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
I can see our cats doing these things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vx1OVLX5Rc
I know Steeler loved to ride on Bernie’s vacuum cleaner.
This post is hilarious. I am so glad Ingrid allowed it on here. I just watched it and folks you have to see this. It is just so funny and so darn real. The thing these pets and other animals do on this clip are not made up. LOL
Well it’s day 3 of Columbia hiding in the bottom cupboard in the kitchen . Friday night was flea meds time and she has been hiding ever since. Her appetite is normal, she will come out briefly to get scruchies then go right back into her hidey spot.
I don’t know whether to just let her stay in ther until she is ready to come out or when she comes out for lovies close the cupboard door to prevent her going back in.
Normally after flea treatment she doesn’t hide but just avoids me for about a week. It’s the same flea medication I always get for the kitties.
Decisions…decisions…
Betty, I would close the cupboard. When any of my 4 hides from me other than playing, I get worried. I would not give her a cupboard to hide in. Just a few extra scritches.
She came out on her own yesterday and just resumed her normal behavior as if nothing had happened. She is on my lap now as I reply 🙂 Which makes for a VERY happy mommy.
Sorry I’m late in chiming in here, Betty. While I usually think it’s important that cats have hiding places where they can feel safe, after three days, I’d be inclined to block access. I’m more concerned about why having the flea medication put on is so traumatic for her that she avoids you for about a week and/or hides. Can you think of ways to make it more pleasant for her? Treats immediately afterwards?
Had she not come out on her own yesterday I more than likely would have closed the door. However since she is back to her normal self the door remains open.
None of my cats like getting their flea treatment. I mainly stay with the same product, Advocate. On months where money is tighter I buy them Advantage or Stronghold (Revolution). I never stray from those products. I think it’s better when my husband does their flea treatment as when I do it I don’ have the hand strength to get it all out in one squeeze, it takes two or three which means having to hold them down to get it all on them. My husband can get it all on in one squeeze.
So glad you got the flea medicine in her. It is never easy to pill mine. Bernie can tell you that Frank is the hardest and Stir is just difficult.
The flea med wasn’t in pill format, it was the usual squeeze tube kind. I hear you about trying to pill a cat. Last time the vet gave my Brad pills to take we finally had to give up. The main reason was we couldn’t catch him, the other is because on the rare occasion my husband could catch him, getting the pill in him was another story…basically impossible
Ms. Gwendolyn a beautiful Tortie passed away this week. She was approximately 16 years old. She was a very, very sweet Tortoiseshell and certainly loved by all who met her.
She was one of the most gentle kitties ever. Loved lap time and noted for her very loud and beautiful purr and warm kisses. She had all the good qualities of a “Tortitude”
Remembering Gwendolyn with fondness and with “all” our love for ever:)
I’m so sorry about Gwendolyn, LB. She sounds like she was a lovely girl, and what a pretty name for a tortie.
So sorry for the loss of Ms. Gwendolyn. She was a special lovely cat.
Miss Gwendolyn was a sweet girl with a loving soul. She always had a wonderful purr to greet me with, and a definite satisfaction of her treats. She will certainly be missed.
So sorry to hear about Ms. Gwendolyn.
She will get along with Pumpkin up there. His Mom was a Tortie and like Ms. Gwendolyn he is also a gentle loving kitty. She will be wise to stay away from Steeler and Kasey. They are full blown Torties and are bad influence.
I am so sorry to hear your beautiful Ms. Gwendolyn passed over the Rainbow Bridge. She will have a great deal of friends there. There are many gentle and loving kittens that have crossed that bridge.
Having said that, pay heed to what Jay said, ” She will be wise to stay away from Steeler and Kasey. They are full blown Torties and are bad influence.” I was the human to be blessed with having Steeler. She was so very beautiful, but she was a “do not touch me” Tortie to almost everyone but me. She did make up to Jay, but only after he brought her fresh catnip, then she love everything and everyone.
Loud thunder just a few minutes ago. Stir and Styx were on the bed. Styx jumped up and ran off the bed and I don’t think her paws even touched it. Stir sat up looked around and lay back down. Some Torties aren’t afraid of anything and recognize the roar of their own kind.
I can tell you all now. Steeler would have just yawned and rolled over. Storms didn’t bother her. There was only 1 storm I recall where she was upset. That turned out to be a tornado. I think she sensed it. After that, storms were just something that was outside. She would probably just yawn and roll over and go back to sleep.
So tonight, Steeler and Kasey are having one heck of a Saturday night party.
Not sure who Steeler and Kasey are talking to but is sure starting to rumble up there.
Possibly having a scrap over who gets to attack a dog?
Would be “in character” 😉
Had some thunder come through here, last night, too.
I am buying a recharger + rechargeable batteries. correction to last post.
A new cat toy.
The Cat’s Meow as sold on TV looked real good but I refuse to pay full price along with shipping. And they have a habit of over charging. Bernie found them for $13 at a local store. Her cats loved it and the one she gave to my kitties when over just as well.
Arian and Styx are fascinated with it and even Tabatha who is over 14 played with it.
Frank is confused though. I put up pics and some video’s on my FB page.
I can see Ruby and Allegra playing with it.
Stir still has not seen it yet.
Only drawback is that it takes 3 C batteries and they die fast.
Will get rechargeable batteries for it this weekend.
Wow just $13.00?!? Wish I had known that stores carry them. We ordered from the place that advertises them on tv so we got the 2 for 1 plus shipping. There was an upgrade for the “deluxe” model which my husband bought. I can’t remember what the difference is. I think ours takes AA batteries which we haven’t had to change yet and we’ve had them for about 3 months..
I have no idea why my boys love it and the girls completely ignore it.
I have worn out 6 batteries already. My 4 will lay all around it wanting me to turn it on. You can bet I will be getting rechargeable batteries. All of them are enjoying it.
Waiting for it to be on, now that’s funny 🙂
It would be interesting to hear what Stir does with it, i suspect Kasey may have not been interested, though; not alive, not a worthy opponent.
I could see Taz looking confused.
Gigi and Tim would really like it, I could see them both sitting, one on either side of it, taking turns hitting it.
Glen, don’t think for a minute your furbabies wouldn’t have a fun time with it. I thought that Freedom, the Mom and the BOSS would not want anything for do with it. Then I was wrong. She watched the 3 kittens playing hardily. After they wondered off onto bigger and better trouble, Freedom went to sniff it out. She then tried to smack the wand to make it go, so I reached down and turned it on. She sat back as if insulted, then after a minute or two she started to get into it. When one of the kittens came into the sunroom she not so quietly hissed them off.
I am a recharger + rechargeable batteries.
We bought our because of my Rocky who loves to play but the other kitties have no interest in playing. It did what we wanted it to do! Rocky took to it immediately. Even when we had it off he would sleep on it which was too cute to see 🙂
His little nose got out of joint when his big brother discovered it and wanted to play with it too. However since Brad is my only indoor outdoor kitty, Rocky is able to play with it alone most of the time. Brad also is the only one that once in a while will play with Rocky. They jump on each other and have wrestling matches. It just isn’t that often so the toy is the perfect time filler.
A comment on the “tortie stare”
I sometimes thought I saw this in Kasey because her face was dark, possibly accentuating the eyes. I have seen some black cats that have a pretty good stare.
Gigi has a ginger colored face, and is not like the Warrior Queen was in ferocity, however, I have noticed she also has the intense, piercing stare.
The orange boys, old Taz and young Tim do not have this same look to them.
Glen, I see that Tortie stare in Justice, one of my Torties. Freedom, my Russian Blue, mom of Justice has that stare down pat. Now I know the Torties get that from their moms. My other tortie Dajudge is just plain lovable. No Tortie stare in her at all, however, she is my talker.
My Columbia definitely has the “tortie stare”. She has huge eyes and when she goes into stare mode you can almost feel it piercing through you.
My tux Rocky has big eyes but he has an innocent look to his eyes, one of my black cats Brad has a very dreamy look, and Janet my other black kitty looks confused most of the time…lol She is definitely my talker kitty. I think there is siamese in her somewhere as she talks and talks, and chatters. She will be in one end of the house and yell and yell nonstop until I tell her to come see momma which is a trait that Columbia has as well. I don’t know if she learned it from Janet or not as I got Janet about 2 weeks after I got Columbia so they could grow up together. Janet is actually the oldest kitty because when I got her she was about 8-9 weeks old and Columbia was 6 weeks.
Betty remember I Got all 4 if mine last year. Justice and Liberty the same day, Freedom the next day and Dajudge in August. Dajudge is the only kitten to survive the wildlife here. She has no stare. Freedom was 3 or 4 when she came in. The other three grew up together and “knock on wood” bonded tightly and, so far, no kitty fights. Now then Freedom the momma of Justice and Liberty and Grandmom to Dajudge takes matter into her own “paws” when she want the kittens to let her alone or when she just feels like letting them know who is in charge here. She will give them 1 quick slap of the paw and they just walk away. Loads of fun.
I am hopeful that the ongoing feud between Columbia and Rocky may be nearing it’s end. I had purchased one of the essences to put on Columbia that was supposed to cool her jets a bit and stop the war however it didn’t work on her so that was $19.00 wasted.
However a couple of weeks ago I was looking for something for our dog and ended up on a pet supply site that has about anything you can think of for pets with lots of excellent reviews from customers. They carry several anti-stress and anxiety products for both cats and dogs so I ordered a product from the HomeoPet line for anxiety which costs $9.99. I just put a few drops each day on her favorite cat treats and she is like a new kitty around Rocky as well as her other brother and sister. .
Last night both Columbia and Rocky were laying on my lap at the same time. In addition I had always noticed that both Brad and Janet would give Columbia kisses on the forehead but she would never ever return the affection. In the past week I have noticed Columbia giving both Brad and Janet kisses on her own (they hadn’t kissed her yet).
I am keeping my fingers crossed that her new behavior continues towards the rest of the family…although I don’t think there is anything that will ever make her stop hissing and growling at the dog…lol
Which Homeopet formula did you use, Betty? I’m glad it worked for you.
It’s called “Anxiety Relief”
Betty, I hope your little fur babies learn to get along and get closer. It is a really nice experience to see.
I had hoped Freedom, who had been feral, would be a good indoor girl. She is and I am so happy to have all 4 together. They (including Freedom) have a schedule on ripping through the whole house. Each night, after they get their 3rd wind and late in the evening, they start running after each other and they run every which way to Sunday. It is really a site to see. I just stay put and out of their way. When they settle down, they all come to me for treats.
I am hoping that with the anxiety drops that I can go back to all getting along. The other 3 get along great, they snuggle together, wash each other, etc. I do feel bad for my Rocky though as he desperately wants to play but the others aren’t interested in it. It is due to Columbia that we can’t get him a play mate. He was devastated when Angelika got out as he raised her from a preemie baby through adult hood. He would call her the same way a mother cat calls her babies. He nursed her when her mother rejected her, washed her, showed her the littler box, etc. They would play and play together, chase each other from one end of the house to the other. Even our lhasa played with her. Watching a 30 pound dog and a 6 pound kitty wrestling was a sight to see…lol
Styx has such a dark face that unless the lighting is just right you cannot see her eyes. She has the “stare” No question on Stirfry – hers can curdle milk. Arianrhod is too cute to have it and Frankie always looks confused but has a permanent grin. Styx will actually smile if she smacks anyone.
Well on the topic of unwanted pets i found a golden labador puppy in my back yard. She had no collar no tags nothing just last night. She was barely moving and looked starved. I looked her over no marks of any kind so i picked her up and took her to a vet. Fortunantly i got their before they closed, after they took a look at her they just told me to give her some food and water and see ho she is in the morning. After the overnight stay she regaind some strength and i took her home. Sassy and Sly are not sure what to think of the puppy but she is very friendly and docile. I cant believe someone would leave a 4 month old puppy out on the street to fend for its self. Well i know it wasnt a cat story but hey im not one to leave a puppy to starve to death in my back yard. The puppy is doing better still very thin but the vet saw nothing else wrong with her thank god 🙂
Thank you so much Adam for taking in this poor abandoned baby. It still amazes me at the cruelty within some people. A year or two ago I hear a tiny voice screaming at the top of it’s lungs outside my house. I knew it was a kitten sound so my husband went outside with a flashlight to look around.
Sure enough on one of the steps going up to my sliders was a tiny baby kitten that was cold, wet and obviously starved and scared to death. The kitten had to have been put on the slider step by a human as it was so young it barely had it’s little eyes open and was not yet capable of climbing as it was so young it still teetered when trying to walk. I wrapped her up in a warm soft towel and held her close to me to warm her up while my hubby heated a bit of milk. Unfortunately we didn’t have any mother’s milk so we had to go with what we had. She was so hungry she didn’t care! I fed her with a soft eye dropper and once she didn’t want anymore I got a warm damp facecloth to do the potty routine you need to do for newbies.
My husband had to put Columbia (my tortie) in the bathroom as she could have cared less that it was a baby, she wanted to go after her. So the next day I called animal control and they said they had some nursing mothers so I had them pick her up. I would have loved to keep her but with Columbia I had no choice.
Anyway thank you again for the wonderful rescue!!
Awww thats to bad but columbia isnt ready for another kitten to roam about her teritory. At least you rescued that little kitten and kept columbia far from her. And yes my two torties are not to thrilled that their is a little puppy with us but they are getting use to her so thats good. It is heart breaking to see pets abandoned at such a young age thank you for helping that little kitten i know it wasnt easy to get rid of her.
I have known since Columbia was a baby that I only had limited time to bring in other furry babies. I have had her since she was about 4 weeks old as the people that had her mother and siblings didn’t take good care of them. Her hair was kind of sparse so I took her to the vet and she had hook worms. She weighed a little less than half a pound. The vet told me then that since she was a tortie if I wanted any more kitties that I needed to get them soon as once she got a little older she would never accept any other animals.
My hubby brought his lhasa apso with him when we go together and after being in the home about 8 years now Columbia still hates the dog and growls and spits at her if she is in Columbia’s “space” and if in the right mood has even slapped the dog. My other cats are fine with the dog, but not my tortie!!
Columbia sounds like Kasey was.
Kasey liked people and “owned” me but ,other animals were at best, tolerated. She had a ” bubble” they could not enter; sometimes that was about 3 feet in diameter, other times, it was a whole floor of the house.
The dogs were literally scared of her.
Gigi, on the other hand, is a “kinder, gentler” tortie maybe it is the whit on her feet and under her chin 😉
A” tortie bubble” sounds right. Stir is the same way. A warning growl when within 3 feet and hiss and slashes within 1. And Harry said the more white the better for calming the Tortie gene. Tabby is white on the belly, feet and paws and loves everyone. Styx is gold and black with black whiskers but tolerates and plays with the other cats, but can change in an instant. Frank and Arian watch her carefully. No one trusts Stirfry.
Columbia is very possessive of her mommy..lol I have a blue blanket on the couch which is worn and ripped but it is known as Columbia’s “wooby”. When I move from my computer room to the livingroom in the evening she waits for me to push my knee scooter in front of me which I use to rest my legs on to elevate them, then she impatiently waits for me to put her wooby over my legs and jumps right on to claim her spot for the night.
Brad and Janet also like to lay on mommy so the games begin. Columbia will try to stretch out long enough so there isn’t room for anyone else but the other two are stubborn and try to find a place to squeeze in. If anyone gets a space closer to me than she is, she will either go ears back and leave or she will try to push them off me. Considering she is the smallest of my 4 kitties, it is her temperament that gets them to move not her strength.
Columbia has no white on her at all. She has a tiny bit of cream in a couple of places but is mainly black and gold.
This is a test.
Bernie “might” have her e-mail notification working. If she replies – the problem is fixed. If not her Torties are up to no good.
Torties are being Torties. Email still did not work.
Betty, TNR stands for Trap-Neuter-Return, a process of caring for cats who live outdoors without a responsible owner os that others who care can still provide spay/neuter and veterinary care for them without having to pay out of pocket for cats they don’t own. It helps prevent a lot of unnecessary kittens! Often you will find a formal program at one of your shelters or through a rescue–for instance, in Pittsburgh we have the Homeless Cat Management Team which does nothing but TNR, but the three main shelters also have low-cost programs for stray and feral cats. Search for “Alley Cat Allies” to read about programs and here is a link to search by zip code for a program near you: http://neuterspay.org/. I only want to include one link, but I have others.
And Betty–just take the cat to be spayed. I’ve done it plenty of times with leave-behinds and even with neighbors’ cats. I think people ought to be responsible for their pets, but the more important thing to take care of is the cat. Thanks for caring about her! And to your neighbors who are feeding her as well.
Ok, the neighbor that I asked to relay the message owns a have a heart cage so I will ask if I can borrow it and have my hubby set it up.
I have always felt bad for that kitty. To go from being an indoor only cat only to be thrown out into a world she didn’t know made me so upset. She hung out at our house for quite a while and we would feed her, back before we found out that it was a girl kitty. She was so loving and wanted attention. The only thing that stopped me from bringing her into my home is my Columbia. Being the tortie diva she is, she will not tolerate another kitty.
If you re-read my post you’ll see that my local SPCA provides free spay and neuter for any cat, whether feral or not, in 2 zip codes one of which is mine.
That is why I am angry about the neighbors not caring enough to take the kitty there themselves.
Betty, I thought the spay/neuter deal was over since you’d said it was a month or two ago. One of our local shelters always does a free spay program in July.
My neighbor where Mimi and her children came from had nine unaltered cats, four females all together, I found free spays for them and even made appointments. It never made a difference. If people don’t go on the first attempt, they aren’t going to unless something dramatic happens.
Hey Betty, what did you do to get email notices from this site. I am still having to come onto the site to see what has been posted. 🙂
I just kept using different email addresses that I have and finally one worked. Although now 2 are working…lol
If you need another email address, please pm or message me and I will create one for you as I have a bunch of domains I can use. I can also set it up so that it would forward messages to your regular address so you wouldn’t have to check mail in more than one place.
Bernie, I’m sorry you’re still having problems. My webmaster has looked into this several times for your email address and can’t find any reason as to why this is not working. I think Betty’s suggestion of using a different email address is probably the best way to go – although it took a while for her new address to work, too, so I’m really at a loss as to what is/was going on.
I have been in contact with my internet server last evening. You must be a mind reader. It appears the email used here was suspended. They could not find a reason for it. But they do tell me there are 99 emails on this account. I am supposed to hear from Comcast today to get this fixed. The rep I spoke to could not understand why this is like it is. So he has sent it to the “2 tier” of web folks. I should hear from them today. Hopefully they can find out who caused this suspension. It was not on my end. The rep went back to 2/2013 when it was suspended but could find no cause for it. So hopefully I will get this straightened out.
Yeah he is. I was supprised that he was a male but hey i have a rare male tortie coolness.
Wow, your new tortie is a male? I’m starting to wonder whether the study that found that only 1 in 3000 torties is male is correct, because just this week, I’ve heard from three people (including you) with male torties. Then again, I suppose it’s because this site attracts so many tortie lovers. 🙂
If you’re on Facebook, feel free to post photos of both of your torties on our Facebook page.
Wow, you have a “Male Tortie”. I am so jealous. Now we have Sly and Doodlebug as tortie members on here. Ingrid’s blog is going to be even more famous.
Adam, you have made Jay a very envious man. Trust me, if he ever finds a male Tortie, the whole world will know. Congratulations on your new Tortie. He is a lucky kitten.
Lol I was very suprised about Sly he was the only one of the litter who was not spoken for. Which is suprising since males are so rare in this breed. If Sassy wasnt spaded already i would have them mate but no luck there sad story.
Well, it’s probably a good thing that Sassy was already spayed when you got Sly. There are too many homeless cats in the world already. 🙂
Actually, tortoiseshell cat are not considered a breed – the tortoiseshell pattern shows up in domestic cats as well as many purebred cats.
Typically those few male torties are sterile, as well. Ingrid’s right, though, about the number of homeless cats and the absence of need to create any more. I haven’t been keeping an exact count of the number of found/stray/unwanted kittens that we’ve received emails about since April of this year, but it has been at least 300. At the high point last July, we had about 170 cats in the rescue, 3/4 of them kittens. I’m still dumbfounded by the number of people in a major metropolitan city who don’t spay or neuter their cats, which cats then get out and get pregnant, as well as by the folks who think their cat should have “just one litter” before being spayed.
I am a huge advocate of spaying and neutering. In fact I’m in a quandary about a cat in the neighborhood. She was an indoor cat and when the people moved they just put her outside and left her to survive on her own. That was a couple of years ago and sometime since she was just cast out one of my neighbors started feeding her and made her their outdoor kitty. What they have failed to do is to have her payed so needless to say she has been having litters of kittens.
A month or two ago I saw a notice on our local SPCA’s website that said they would spay or neuter any cats for free in 2 zip codes, one of which is mine. I told my neighbor on the other side of me about it as she is friends with the neighbors that are feeding the cat. She said she would tell them but doubted that they would follow through on it. I don’t know if they have or not. I am so tempted to trap her and take her to the SPCA however since she has technically been claimed by my neighbors I don’t know if I should or not.
Like I said a quandary 🙁
Betty, tell the neighbor with the cat that if they don’t TNR the cat you will. Some one has to do the right thing and it’s not fair to the kittens. Bernie had an outside cat that had kittens and now they are all gone (who knows what got them) She live in a cat unfriendly area and they would rather let people shoot cats than TNR. Such a shame.
I hate to sound ignorant (although it comes quite naturally) but what does TNR mean?
TNR = Trap Neuter Release
you trap them , get them fixed and put them back where you got them.
Nice to see you back on here.
thank you for the meaning Jay!!
I am also glad that I have started receiving messages again. Only now as of two days ago one of my other email accounts kicked in and now I am receiving duplicates of every message. I’m afraid to unsubscribe one of the accounts for fear of all messages stopping again
Jay, it’s actually trap-neuter-“return”–not to nitpick but it’s become an important distinction since some people accuse rescuers of “dumping” cats they’ve trapped and vetted an any area they want.
Thanks Bernadette, I looked it up and you are right. I think it was called release when it first started and now they put TNR in all their flyers so I did not know it was changed. The cats ear gets tipped so they don’t trap the same cats again. Frankie has a tipped ear.
That’s right, Jay, that was just in the past two years we’ve been trying to change this word to avoid potential complaints but for years it was “release”. And they do get ear-tipped too–left ear, 1/4″. It’s the new style.
Frankie has “Style”
Who would have known 🙂
My Tortie is almost 17 and she fits the traits to a tee!! Although she is now blind she is still chatty and very much independent. She has finally been more snuggly with others but still very protective of her home.
Your tortie sounds like a sweetie, Christine!
My Kasey was very protective of her home, to.
I brought her home when she was 8 or 9 and I think she really valued and appreciated it, she did not want to go out but was very aware of what was going on outside, one morning, she did not like something that came to the screened window and tried to attack it through the screen. It did not matter what is was, she was going after it.
She was great with people though and there was no doubt that I belonged to her.
I has my Tortie Steeler. She held this fort and no other cats could come in. She was very protective. She passed away a year ago. I still miss her so much.
Thanks Bernie they are alot of fun. Sassy and Sly are actually still a little unsure but they dont combat eachother they just kinda play with eachother kinda a ice breaker i guess. As long as i dont see tails poofed and fur sticking up i think they will be okay. Thanks again I think Torties are the best i just find them alot more fun.
Torties will show you what “Tortitude” means. You have named your new Tortie Sly??? Do you have a male Tortie??? Most Torties are female. There is occasionally a male, but not very often.
Well i just got the other kitten and both seem to be doing fine with one another. Sassy was a little uneasy but she is interacting with the other kitten very well. When i adopted sassy she was with other cats in my other place so i think that helped. Thank you for the info it really helped.
Adam, way to go. You will not regret taking a little Tortie kitten in to be a playmate to Sassay. Before long you will be putting fragile items away or using museum gel to hold them down. Those little ones will be playing like you could not believe.
Thanks my wife and i certainly thought so. We decided on the name when she would always pounce on and atack our feet then look at us with her big gold eyes and meow and pur. We wound up getting sassy from a friend when she was still a kitten she wound up bonding with us before our friend so she gave her to us. Thank you for that info it was really helpful. One other thing I wanted to ask. Are torties territorial at all because my wife and I found another tortie kitten we might want to get but we dont want to upset Sassy or make her feel uncomfortable.
There’s no way to predict whether two cats will get along, and torties are no more or less territorial than other cats. The best way to make sure everyone gets along is to do very gradual introductions: https://ingridking.com/2011/08/15/cat-to-cat-introductions/
That being said, if you ask vets or feline behaviorists, they do seem to see a disproportionate number of torties for behavioral issues as compared to cats of other colors….
Adam I agree with Ingrid on this. Having said that, I rescued a 2 kittens and their Mom. One is a Tortie. Then 3 months later I rescued another Tortie kitten. I kept the kitten in a kennel for a few days so the others could get to see and know her. When she came out of the kennel, I had no problems. They all played together, ate together and bonded very well. So it really is a toss up. In my case there was no thoughts of not keeping the last Tortie kitten. So slow introduction works pretty good, at least for me. I don’t think I would hesitate to rescue another Tortie kitten. Hopefully tho no more will come to my house looking for a forever home.
I have a tortie named sassy, shes a real sweetheart she does get a little fiesty when she wants to play or eat but she never has a issue about being petted for a long period of time. She lets us know when her litter box needs changing just by pawing at us and walking toward it and she is very vocal at bed time. She loves laying out on our patio and watch birds she has this wierd clicking sound she does whenever she sees them what is that?
Sassy sure is a perfect name for a tortie, Adam! Here is one possible explanation for the chattering sound cats make when they’re birdwatching: https://ingridking.com/2013/07/20/mews-and-nips-the-meaning-of-cat-chatter/
Welcome Adam, like Ingrid said – Sassy is a very fitting name for a Tortie.
Freya is my first tortie and I’ve had quite a bit of cats in my years. I might have had another one if torties also come in gray?
The whole point is that she’s a handful. She plays with Frodo, a 2 1/2 year old yellow tabby. He’s got more tortitude than Freya. She’s playful but devoted to me, and although a food thief, I attribute it to the fact she was found wondering in a very populated area and maybe starved for a long time. She was still very young (2 months) when found, so I assumed that was the key to the fact she’s not fearful of ANYTHING. And I mean it.
So far she’s only been mean to me once, throwing a paw at my face. But I look into her eyes and she realizes I’ll stop loving her inmediately if she’s mean to me. Not that much playful, sometimes dissapears. When I found my bed peed one day, I spoke to her. Never happened again. Hold her at eye level and try to make contact. EXPLAIN, without threats, why that shouldn’t be done. Once or twice does the trick.
Although I still haven’t convinced her that going out is dangerous for her. It’s as if she told me “I survived as a kitten, do you think I won’t now?”
Yes, torties do come in gray, they’re called dilute torties.
I would really like to dispel the myth that cats are mean. Cats don’t think that way. They don’t do things to be “mean,” or out of spite. There’s always a reason for their behavior, from their perspective, and usually, the behavior issues can be solved when we think like a cat, rather than trying to assign human attributes to cats.
I don’t think Stir acts out of reason. Her behavior changes are within milliseconds. She might think later but by then I am getting out the blood clotting spray and bandages. Bernie is helpful for patching me up. Hard to wrap a hand while holding a towel on it.
Susana after reading the issue you are having with your Tabby, I agree with with Ingrid. You cannot reason or punish your kittens/cats. They don’t understand why you are doing that. Your little one sounds like she is frightened by something. Living as a feral is not something that willl stay with one so young. I have rescued 2 adults. One was a Tortie, my Steeler, who loved having a forever home. The other is Freedom, brought in about a year ago and she is about 4 years. She needs her space and I give her all she wants. She was feral, but she wanted a forever home. She is now a very happy indoor only cat. She shows her love in different ways. The idea of scolding or punishing her is out. She has become a beautiful and loving kitten. She does not want to be picked up, but stroking her is ok. So maybe you should look at her surroundings and see what it is that makes her react like this. I have 2 Torties, Justice and Dajudge, and a Russian blue, Freedom and a gray tiger tabby. All have learned to live happily and be a unit. All but Freedom were kittens. The other thing is litter boxes. My cats have their litter boxes cleaned every day. I have 6 litter boxes and they all go to the boxes. So you may want to add an additional box for her her. Just a thought. So glad you are here.
In regards to litter boxes, a buddy of mine at work has a 23 pound orange and white Maine Coon and a 9 pound female long hair cat.
She started using “inappropriate” locations, including the new couch.
We discussed it and I determined the “big guy” was likely guarding the approaches to the litter box.
He has a side split house with several levels and he had a spot on another level for another box.
There were no more “mishaps” and the daily “scraps” stopped too. 🙂
The rule of thumb for how many litter boxes to have is the number of cats you have plus one. Even for single cats, one box may not be enough, as your friend’s situation showed. Especially in homes with more than one level, it makes sense to have a litter box on each level.
My girlfriend has a Tortie that is about a year old. Just recently the cat has been flipping the swtich and going from sweet to attack mode. She will get in this mood where she will literally follow my girlfriend around and try to bite her ankles. When confronted she sits there pissed off and then will attack again at the moment my girlfriend turns her back. It’s becoming more frequent and more aggressive. It happens when I’m there and when I’m not also.
My girlfriend thinks it’s when she wants to play or be fed. She doens’t want to reward the behavoir so she won’t play with her or feed her until maybe 10min after she “snaps” out of it.
Any suggesstions? It is bizarre and she really has this bipolar moment.
This sounds like play aggression, Bryan. The best way to avoid this is to play more, and use interactive toys to do so. It’s not really all that bizarre, and definitely not just a tortie “thing.” Usually, you see this type of play aggression in young cats who have excess energy and no way to discharge it. I recommend structured playtime, 10-15 minutes, at least twice a day. Really get her tired out. It would also help if your girlfriend would distract your tortie when she starts following her BEFORE she attacks her ankles. Tossing a toy will usually do the trick and get your cat chasing after the toy rather than your girlfriend’s legs.
I will try to suggest that. It is actually her cat and I am just trying to research it because I know it’s frustrating for both of us.
I know she is religious about playing with her at least 3 times per day. Morning, lunch break, and dinner. We play with her pretty constantly but maybe we’re just not tuckering her out.
I don’t know if I would consider it play aggression. It’s like she’s having an out of body moment and not herself. Her whole demeanor goes in to this stalking attack mode. My girlfriend will grab her by the back of her neck and put her in a different room. Once she gets put down she goes right after her again. For the most part she only goes after her when her back is turned and it’s a standoff when my girlfriend squares up wit her. It’s to the point where my girlfriend was scared of the cat and how she was acting so I am trying to find a solution that will help the cat. I’ve never had a tortie and this is her first.
Thank you for your feedback.
I would not “punish” her for the behavior by putting her in a different room. She’s just being a cat, exercising her prey instinct. Unfortunately, in this case, your girlfriend’s legs are the “prey.” I think your girlfriend will see better results if she distracts the cat with a toy to channel the natural hunting instinct into something productive the cat can understand.
It sounds like the play sessions aren’t long enough, or vigorous enough – see if you can get her to step things up. Let me know how things go.
Hi Bryan. My 4 year old tortie Miss Gracie has always done this too – she chases after both my mother and I and tries to bite our ankles – first having wrapped her paws around our legs to make sure she can get a good grip! The only time she does it now is if she wants to go outside and it’s too early to let her out (we only let her out after about 8am, we live in a fairly densly populated surburban area). I think it’s a frustration thing. Distraction definitely works! I agree with Ingrid that punishment is a bad idea – although it’s instinctive to want to it’s definitely counter-productive. All the best – Marg.
Bryan I have read your story about your girlfriend having a problem. Have you guys given her a cat tree or an area where she can to to look down and jump around. Sounds like she needs more play time and no scolding. She does not understand that. Cats, including Torties can be loving and playful if they are understood. Try giving her more play time with soft talking. I call that the tender touch. Putting her into a room alone is just going to frighten her and she will not understand why. It sometimes takes a bit of work for each of you, especially her humans. She needs reassurance and understanding. I would suggest you folks get her a kitty tree where she can see all around and outside. Give her a wider world to look at. But please don’t punish her in solitary. She may just need more playful toys. The interactive toys, like the bird on the stick and any other toy that makes her work out her playful aggressions might held. This is a great site to get help, advice and just play humor. Ingrid knows her stuff about cat behavior. So having said that, I am glad you are on site with us.
Bryan, this sounds very much like the issue we had with my first tortie. We never had a problem with her attitude for the first year or two after we adopted her. Yet one day I had decided to curl my hair so I was in the vanity area of our bedroom and putting hot rollers in my hair. Magenta came in the room and looked at me, stood motionless for a minute then came running toward me hair up, fangs showing, and defintely in attack mode. I ducked into the bathroom and closed the door. I could hear her trying everything to get in the door. I removed all the rollers from my hair and opened the door a crack to see if she was still there and she was. I ended up staying in the bathroom until my husband got home from work. When she heard him she went into the kitchen to greet him as usual. I came out of the bathroom and she was fine toward me.
After that incident any time she would see me at the vanity area she would again come after me. Then there were a few times she would go into attack mode toward me in other areas of the house. We were obviously concerned about her change in behavior so we took her to her vet.
The doctor found nothing wrong with her but based on what we told her she concluded that Magenta was epileptic. She said in cats with epilepsy, they don’t have visible seizures but instead go into a focused fixed attack mode. So she prescribed phenobarbital once a day and after that Magenta never came after me again and once again was back to her old self.
This may not be the issue with your kitty but your story reminded me of Magenta’s behavior so I thought it couldn’t hurt to share it.
Bryan, you need to watch “My Cat from Hell” with Jackson Galaxy on Animal Planet. He is a friend of Ingrids (actually a friend of all cat lovers) and shows how to deal with Play Aggression. Harry Shubin did an article on it and it should be available thru Ingrid’s web site.
Oh, I have lots of experience with tortitude. Several years ago, I adopted, Anatasia, a 15-year-old tortie who had been abandoned by her family and who languished in the shelter for over a year because everyone thought she was “too old.”
She lived with me for almost two years, and, although she was tiny, she ruled the other cats. None of them would buck Ana, and she could wither them with a look.
I now have Tawny, another tortie that nobody wanted to adopt because they thought she was “mean.” Her problem was that she HATED a cage and would growl and scratch when people tried to put her back.
She is very loving, but always on her own terms, and she can get into more trouble than any cat I have ever seen. She managed to get herself stuck inside a wall (which we had to cut open with a saw) and in a suspended ceiling. Fortunately, she has the loudest meow I have ever heard, and, fortunately as well, she will answer when I call her…loudly…and DEMAND that I rescue her from her unfortunate adventures.
She also has had the habit of launching herself onto the top of the screen door after a wild run through the house, and once managed to pull the screen out of its track so that she surprised herself by ending up outside on the picnic table on the deck, screaming loudly (again) for me to rescue her.
It’s always interesting with Tawny around.
Gail I thoroughly enjoyed you tale of your Torties. Rescuing a 15 year old Tortie says to me you are crazy, but my kind of crazy. That was a truly good thing to do. You said that”she ruled the other cats. None of them would buck Ana, and she could wither them with a look.” We all know that look. Only a Tortie can turn your blood cold with that “look”. Anatasia, I am sure is one of the angels on your shoulder. Now you have Tawny. Sounds like she is all Tortie. She sure has your number. But just reading how you write about her antics, I feel like you are enjoying her more than not. I hope you continue to come here to let us into your Tawny’s antics. We have all have a Tortie or two or more at any given time. Some have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, but to us they are angels on our shoulders. Welcome.
Yes, Bernie, I am definitely crazy. Whenever I have an “opening” for a cat due to one of the older ones leaving for the Bridge, the shelter people just love to see me. I’ll always ask them which cat is the most needy, and they will happily point me to the one that is “too mean,” “too shy,” “too old” or “too” something else and nobody wants them.
They always turn out just fine, although most are not as quirky as the torties I’ve adopted. I will say, though, that one long-haired tortie that I adopted, Punkin, who, I think was one of Anastasia’s kittens (yes, Ana lived with her first family unspayed for fourteen years until they moved and abandoned her) because she looked almost exactly like Ana, but had the most mellow personality of any cat that has ever owned me. She definitely did NOT inherit tortitude (perhaps she was a tabby wearing a disguise?)
Gail that is a good crazy. How many little ones do you have now. I have 4. 2 Torties Justice and Dajudge, a Russian blue, Freedom Momma to Justice and Liberty and Granny to Dajudge. Justice is a “Tortie’s Tortie” and Dajudge is a sweet, loving and gentle Tortie. Liberty is a gray tiger tabby, brother to Justice and cousin to Dajudge and Freedom is his mom. I have 3 generations I rescued over a 5 month period. Liberty is my lovable big kitten. Full of mischief and devilment. He loves to tease and play with all the others. Sometimes they are all running at the same time, and I could swear I have a herd of cattle rather than kittens.
It sounds like you are a long time rescue gal. I only ever rescued my first one, Steeler. She passed away a year ago at the end of April. In June I had two come to me then the mom and in August Dajudge. I am all filled up. I have kittens going every which way.
I have had two torties, Kasey who I lost on May 21, this year.
I rescued her at age 8 or 9 from one of our company’s facilities and had her for 5 years, too short a time. She has a dark colored tortie with a dark face. She loved people but not other animals, so much. She was not afraid of anything and was very skilled at fighting; I called her my Warrior Queen, But she would wait for me at the back door when I came home from work.
Gigi came along last February. She was about 4 1/2, she belonged to a couple, the wife died and he had to sell their house and could not take Gigi with him, he did not want to take her to a shelter. We were quite impressed with her and took her in.
She is a long hair tortie, with a ginger face and white feet with a white ruff. She is very tolerant and gets along with all the other animals. She is a big girl at 14 pounds, just big, not overweight.
Once she settled in to her new home, this “mature lady” became quite playful and loves to run with 1 year old Tim, the little orange guy we rescued at 5 or 6 weeks of age. Sometimes he forgets his manners when playing and awakens the “inner tortie”, she is quite formidable when this happens and she gets and keeps him on the run.
Right now I have six. Charley is my big ginger boy, Bailey is a polydactyl tabby, Willow is my elegant black kitty, Kai is a small, Siamese type, but she is basically beige, Tawny is, of course, my torite terror and Max is a grey tuxedo lovebug who was so terrified of people when rescued by the shelter that they were convinced that he would have to be a barn cat. One of the volunteers there was very concerned about him because she didn’t think he would be able to survive as a barn cat, and she begged me to take him and give him a chance.
I’ve previously taken in and tamed several feral cats that came around looking for food (took a long time to get them comfortable with people, but it was worth it.) When my daughter was little, she would often bring home cats that other children had taken home whose parents would not allow them to keep, and, of course, it was “Mom, either you take them in or they will be thrown out in the street.” So…yep, you guessed it…they stayed.
I also have three horses, two dogs, chinchillas, finches and fish.
Glen, your Kasey sounds a lot like Ted, a ginger cat that “adopted” me when I went with my sister to a local shelter for HER to get a cat. Little Ted grabbed my hand when I was close to his cage and simply wouldn’t let go. Naturally, I had to go back and adopt him.
He used to play fetch, would follow me to the bus stop in the morning and wait with me until the bus came, and he really enjoyed chasing dogs. He was quite the character, and I still miss him.
Gail, having 6 little kittens is great. I must say we have folks here who have had more. I hope you have a lot of land for the rest of your collection. That would be “I also have three horses, two dogs, chinchillas, finches and fish.” I cannot imagine the patience you must have. Four cats are enough for me. Glen has his remarkable group of kittens. His Kasey truly was his “Warrior Queen” whom he adored. I had Steeler, my precious Tortie. She had more Tortitude than should have been allowed. I loved her as no other. She passed away and I thought I would not let another kitten come into my life. Well that changed, and quickly, but it was with a lot of help from Steeler looking out for me. I referred to her as my “Little Terrorist”. Her name represented her colors and the fact that I am a huge Steelers football fan and here was this terrific cat looking for a home with the black and gold colors. No more needed to be said. She was far and above any other. I miss her to this day, even tho I have 4 others now.
Bernie, I’ve been blessed with several of the “special” cats that really bond with you. One was Ted. Another was Allie, the kitten I absolutely did NOT want when my daughter brought her home and insisted that we HAD to take her.
I reluctantly relented and Allie decided that I was HER person and she definitely won me over. When she was five months old, she managed somehow to fall off the deck and break her leg. Due to the position of the break, a cast was not possible, so the vets put a steel rod in her leg to stabilize it.
I had to take her back to the vet’s every couple of weeks for several months for them to check on her progress, and she absolutely HATED that. All you needed to do was say the word “vet” and she would run and hide.
At her last visit when they were going to anesthetize her to remove the rod, I asked them to spay her at the same time so that she wouldn’t have to go back again. When I went to pick her up, the vet tech went to get her, but came back and said that there was no way she could take that hissing, growling, screaming thing out of the cage and into the carrier.
Allie had simply had enough of the whole thing. I went back and saw her pressed into the corner of the cage, screaming and hissing. But, when I softly called her name, she immediately answered (which absolutely shocked the vet tech.) I put down her carrier and told her we were going home, at which point Allie quietly walked into the carrier and started to purr.
She was with me for far too short a time, and when she went to the Bridge, I think I cried for two days. What was amazing, though, was that one of the feral cats I had been feeding that had never allowed me to touch him, came up to me while I was sitting on the porch steps missing Allie, and actually leaned into me and allowed me to hug and pet him. That was the major breakthrough with Muggsy and he was shortly thereafter neutered and converted into a house cat.
We have a little over seven acres, and our house is pretty large, so there’s plenty of room for the “crew.” Getting older now, though, so as furkids leave, they are not generally being replaced.
Sorry I’m a bit late in welcoming you to our tortie communite, Gail. You sure have had your share of experience with tortitude! Bless you for taking in these “challenging” cats and giving them a chance at love and a forever home.
We also have a very active Facebook page. Feel free to post photos of your kitties there, we’d love to see them!
Thank you Ingrid, and thank you for setting up this site. I discovered it after reading Buckley’s Story, and I’ve been enjoying the site ever since.
Gail, so nice to hear about a cat rescuer who takes the unwanted. They show their love to us even more because they know we see past their fears or conditions. Stirfry after 12 years has not lost her independence or feral attitude but loves me with all her being. Styx came around from hiding and hating people to being a loveable cat and right now is playing with my kitten Arian.
Welcome to our family.
The unwanted ones generally turn out to be absolutely wonderful pets, and they do seem to appreciate finally being “chosen” by someone.
I looking for information/advice concerning chronic, cat rhinitis.
We took Tim home a year ago when he was 5 or 6 weeks old.
He had been found, abandon, we don’t know his history before that but he may well have come from a feral cat colony.
He is happy, playful ,very active and eats a lot of everything he can find..
He has had rhinitis from the time we brought him home.
We have had him to the vet numerous times, antibiotics slows the rhinitis down, but it returns after he finishes his medication.
The vet has suggested a rhinoscopy, which is quite expensive, the projected outcomes include;
They my find a foreign object that could be removed
They my find a polyp that could be removed
They my find a fungal infection that could be treated
They may find it is just a chronic inflammation that he will have for life
I am not sure about the first two since he has had it since he was 5 or 6 weeks old. I am thinking it could be one of the latter two.
Glen, if it was me I would go for the treatments. Sounds like they could f ix or treat anything they would find.
Jay
The ndifficulty is that the procedure is mostly a diagnostic one, there is a chance that they might be able to do something during it, but they said that was possible, but don’t count on it.
Since he has had it basically from day 1, I am not so sure it isn’t a chronic situation that will not go away.
I would probably pursue diagnostics if this is a recurring problem. Repeated courses of antibiotics are going to do more harm than good in the long run. Unless the cause is clearcut – a foreign object or polyp/growth, treatment can be challenging. You’ve probably already done a lot of research, but you may want to take a look at this very comprehensive article on chronic rhinitis in cats: http://www.michvet.com/Client%20Education%20Handouts/Internal%20Medicine%20handouts/Chronic%20Rhinitis%20in%20Cats.pdf
Glen I read this last evening. I am at a loss for this. I looked it up and came away more confused than when I started. I will refer this topic to our feline experts, Ingrid King, Bernadette Kazmarski or Harry Shubin. I really don’t know which of this options you may or should follow. I only know you will care for him in the best possible way.
Here is an article of a dog with a rare genetic make up and a cat with the same thing. Love the cat.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377085/Bull-dog-chimera-contrasting-color-coat.html
Last Thursday we brought in a new cat scratching post;
http://www.petvalu.com/in-our-store/products/cat/supplies-and-accessories/scratching-posts-and-furniture/cat-post-alicante
This drew immediate attention and complete approval.
Gigi and Tim enjoy chasing each other up and down it, and also entertain themselves on it.
Gigi will play on it, on her own, she acts like a 12 week old kitten with it, instead of like a 5 year old adult.
Taz is a bit more sedated, he is content to scratch the lower section, from the floor.
Taz has learned that the lower part of the post doesn’t get as much attention so it’s up to him to even things out. Frankie does the same thing. And a new post is always a huge thing in a cat household. (like us with a new car). Glad to hear things are going well with you.
Last night I was talking to Bernie and I heard Steeler and Kasey talking. We did not have any rain but Philadelphia set a record with over 7″ of rain. That city must really pissed off the kitty gods.
Well, global domination must have been achieved – we had thunderstorms on Sunday night and torrential rain, and as I lay in bed TRYING to go to sleep, all I could do was chuckle and think about Steeler and Kasey … something big must have been going on and they were really exercising their vocal powers.
Margaret I am happy to hear that Steeler and Kasey were letting you know they were up to something. As you know those two did not need a reason for what they did. They would just do it. It is great to hear the thunder. It always reminds me of the little thunderous Torties at play.
Jay has Stirfry who is still with him and she makes her own kind of thunder at home. Trust me, Torties do have a thunderous way about them. Even Miss Gracie has some of that thunderous way about her. Each is the same and different at the same time.
Glen having scratching post is a necessity. I have a 44″ kitty tower with scratching posts. Then I have 2 really larger ones. One is 70″ high and the other is 80″ high. My crew scratches and climb and hang like monkeys playing with each other on those towers. Love them. I am thinking of adding another one. My crew is pretty big now so I am thinking of cutting down a large maple tree and bringing in the tree trunks in for them (LOL) but them “maybe”.
And the weight of those little kitties is putting stress on those kitty towers.
I would use an oak tree.
Reading this article made me giggle as I glanced over at my Sadie Jane, who just gently mewed at me from her spot on the windowsill. Just like many of the other comments have stated, this is exactly how she is! Sadie Jane is very very special to me… her story is a little complicated. When I was 13 we got her as a kitten from the pet store, but when my parents separated we couldn’t keep her and she was bounced back and forth with different people we knew and I remember telling my mom that as soon as I move out I will take her with me… surely enough almost 9 years later I finally have her back in my life and where she belongs.
I still remember when we brought into the apartment, she ran and hide under the couch. Sadly, the last home she had been in was terrible. These people had four kids and they just tortured her to the point that she was so terrified of people, it took me days before I could coax her out with small treats and gently pets. Now she’s just a little hell raiser and has completely warmed the heart of my boyfriend (who was never a huge fan of cats), but I had never heard of the term “tortie or tortoiseshell” before… I just keep calling her shorthair when people asked what kind of cat she was.
It wasn’t until a visit to the vet that I learned about them. We had her in a cat carrier waiting for our turn, when I man walked over to us and stopped to talk. He looked inside and saw her and told she was very beautiful tortie, he told us that he had two torties and joked about how bratty they both were. That was the first time I had ever heard that term before and asked him what it meant, I remember him chuckling and telling us that it’s used to descried her colouring and that Tortie was short for Tortoiseshell.
At the time I was happy to learn about her colouring and never expected to learn that torties have so much personality! Reading this blog has opened my eyes to just how special my Sadie really is and I certainly wouldn’t think twice about getting another if the chance ever arises! Thank you!
Clearly, you and Sadie were meant to be together, Suki! I’m glad my article and the comments on this thread helped you appreciate her even more.
Suki, the best part of Sadie Jane’s life is that you loved her and really did get her back after those years. Torties are very special. I had one named Steeler, she passed away, but she left her mark. She could draw you to her then she would try to tear you apart. She was a rescue and a one person Tortie.
I now have 2 Torties, a gray tiger tabby, and a Russian Blue. Justice and Dajudge are the Torties. Torties have a distinct way of taking over. Jay Davenport has a Tortie named Stirfry. Now that is the toughest Tortie in the world. He will surely write on here to you.
Glad to have you here. It is a great place for fun, and information.
Suki, you are truly blessed that you have a Tortie.
They are “Special” cats. Some if they have white are calm and gentle (Harry says that tames the Tortitude). My Tabatha is a Tortie with white.
Others will show some tortitude and love there humans greatly. And there are some rare ones that are the pure strain of Torties – They play hard , love hard and have a wild streak in them that others (humans and animals learn to leave alone. Bernies Steeler and Glen’s Kasey were such cats (sadly they crossed the bridge in the last year. – When you hear thunder that is them setting everyone straight on the other side. Harry’s Brooke and my Stirfry are the ones we have left that you will learn about. Go to [email protected] to see pics of Stirfry and my other cats. And most of my friends have cats or other animals. Thru there you will see Bernie, Ingrid and Bernadette and the Shubin family. They are our go to people on cats and especially Torties. Post pics of Sadie on Ingrids FB page so we can all see her.
Jay, sorry for taking so long to reply. When I click link my computer wants to email something to you… also tried looking you up on facebook, and was surprised by how may their are. lol but any way! Here is a link…
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153094083175584.1073741825.717055583&type=1&l=20c7c5d3b5
is my Sadie Jane album. In here is my all time favourite pictures including this really awesome pictures I captures of her and the Tortie that lives across the alleyway in the apartment next to mine. I love watching them when they are both in the their windows at the same time… it’s cute.
Sadie is a real beauty!!!!
Well gang I had to vet my kittens yesterday. I managed to catch 3 of them and took those ones. The sad part of that was I took Dajudge (my youngest and a Tortie) and she is not due until later October. But hey, catch 1 go for more. All went well with Freedom and Liberty. I came back home and had scheduled Justice for 7:30PM. Finally caught her and she got her shots. Now all are up to date.
NOW today:
Now after writing the information above about the vet visit for my kittens, I will tell you how close I came to losing Justice. This afternoon I heard a weak crying kitten. Started looking for all. Could not find Justice. Finally found her hiding behind the drapes behind the sofa. I yanked that sofa away from the wall and picked her up. She was limp and lifeless. Her little tongue was out. I grabbed my car keys and took off to the vet. She had a severe reaction to her shots and if I had not gotten her there when I did, she could have been lost. She was given IV and a large dose of benadryll. They worked with her until they felt it safe to bring her home. She is home and after about 2 hours, she is walking and eating.
Hopefully she is alright.
That’s a scary situation, good thing you heard her.
Glen Thanks. I am so thankful that Justice was on the main floor where I am all day. If she had been on the second floor, I don’t even want to think what I would be writing at this time. My heart is truly invested in my kittens. That fear was almost unbearable on the drive that I might be losing her. My angels were on my shoulders today. That would be Steeler, Eric, Kasey, Sabrina, Cookie, Kelly, May and so many more.
Glen by the way, we also had horrific Thunderstorms today. So Steeler and Kasey were really being heard.
Bernie–scary! I’m so glad you noticed and that you got her taken care of in time. That happened to me years ago with Fawn, the torbie, and after that, in those days, we gave her a shot of prednisone before the vaccine and that helped with her reaction. I never take vaccinations for granted! Glad all are okay and back on the cat tree watching storms.
Bernie, I’m so glad it turned out ok – thank goodness you were home. You shouldn’t have any more tragedy, or even stress like this!! Give Justice a big kiss on the head for me!
Harry, I held her so close that she was almost a part of me. My heart is in my kittens. I will gladly give her a big kiss on the head for you. Thank you.
Bernadette if you all had not talked and written about vaccines and bad reactions I might not have known for sure what had happened. I don’t think there will ever come a time in my life now, while I have my kittens that I will not need and heed the advice from all of you who have had so much knowledge of kittens and health. Thank you. I want her on that tree real quick. 🙂
Bernie told me that when she got home with Justice after the emergency vet visit, Justice went under her couch with her back legs dragging. Freedom went under and groomed her, DJ laid down beside her and Liberty laid down beside her head. All 3 cats were worried and stayed with her until Justice started to take water by herself and her tongue was not out and her tail started to move. Then Bernie knew everything would be OK. Within an hour Justice was demanding treats and back to being the BOSS Tortie.
So glad she is OK. After losing Punky to a reaction to Hartz Flea Spray I am against any shots or vaccines unless absolutely necessary. My cats rarely go outside (Stirfry and Tabby only) so they should not contact any animals with Rabies and my main mouser was Punky so doubtful if they will get it from one of them. I just worry about something added to Purina food that my cats eat.
What a scare you had! I’m so glad she’s okay. Please discuss vaccine titers with your vet. I would not vaccinate Justice again except for rabies, which is required by law. And make sure your vet uses the one-year non-adjuvanted rabies vaccine, not the three-year vaccine. If you search “vaccinations” on this site, you’ll find several articles on the topic.
Ingrid, I was talking to Bernie early this morning about Justice. Her brother Liberty got the same vaccines but had no reaction. Would the fact that shes a Tortie and has a different genetic make up have anything to do her problem? Maybe anyone else on here know of sibling that reacted differently to shots or sprays. Harry and Bernadette – you deal with tons of cats (sorry – thinking of Frankie who is way up there) any Tortie connection?
There’s not genetic component to vaccine reactions that I’m aware of, Jay. There are some things you can do to avoid reactions: never give more than one vaccine at a time, and don’t over-vaccinate. Any cat can have a vaccine reaction, and unfortunately, there is no way to predict which cats will and which cats won’t.
Here are two articles on vaccines that may help:
https://ingridking.com/2010/04/19/feline-vaccinations-walking-through-the-minefield/
https://ingridking.com/2012/04/23/lets-talk-titers-avoid-over-vaccinating-your-cat/
While vaccine protocols are changing (the AAFP/AVMA/AAHA all recommend fewer vaccinations), sadly, many vets are still slow to adopt the new protocols and still vaccinate once a year. It’s up to each cat guardian to educate themselves on this issue.
Good grief Bernie – my heart was in my mouth while I was reading your post. I’m so glad that you were home with her and were able to get her to the vet so quickly. Miss Gracie used to react badly to her flu shots (lethargic and generally out of sorts for 24 hours) so our vet has changed the vaccine he gives her.
Margaret, I cannot express what a horrific feeling I had. I just could not believe Justice was almost lost. You are right, I am so glad I was here and my vet is only 10 minutes away. This time he was only 5 minutes away. Any vaccines in the future will be closely monitored in all my kittens. I don’t ever want to see this happen again. This little ones are so precious. It is a good thing that Miss Gracie’s vet was able to change her vaccine. We just can’t take vaccines for granted. At least I won’t ever again.
Hey guys, I don’t know about you, but this heat wave has got to go. I feel like a prisoner in my home. The AC is running constantly, but on a brighter note my four little devilish cats are even more playful. They don’t know how hot it is outside. They are nice and cool and having fun just running and chasing each other all throughout the house. Yesterday they knocked over a 4′ victorian marble lamp. No injuries to them and luck for the lamp no breaks. That takes a bit of strength to do. My little ones are really large cats now. Except for Justice and her mom Freedom. They are on the more petite side. Now Liberty and Dajudge are on the long, lean, and tall side. I just want to enjoy the outside without choking to breath, so I have to stay where it is a cooler. This is miserable. Hope you all are feeding and especially putting out cold water several times a day for the ferals/strays that are milling about. They really need the water.
It has been very hot here, too.
We saw 104F last weekend, the AC has been extremely valuable.
I have the same situation with the cats, Gigi and Tim are very active these days, as I type this, they are taking turns chasing each other up and down the hall. Taz watches, with interest, but decline to get involved.
Glen I hope you have now had a weather cool down. We have had severe T storms for 2 days now. They are off and on, but very heavy rains with huge lightning and rolling Thunder. I think Steeler and Kasey are causing some kind of havoc with all the rumblings. The good thing is our temps dropped to the low 60’s at 7PM. Cool almost feels cold but it sure feels good.
I had to remove a couple of kittens from their windowsills and they were not happy. But the winds were driving the rain in. I have not trouble with them during storms. They seem to just go with the flo.
Things have cooled down.
We had a Kasey-grade thunderstorm come though here last Friday night.
Those are the ones that cause real damage. And let us know who was responsible.
I was just informed that my cat is a “Torti” by my vet. One of the things I love about my cat is that she has (what I call) thumbs on her from feet. Is this normal? Thank for your responses!! 🙂
Your tortie is a polydactyl cat, which means that she has more than the usual number of toes on one or more of her paws. This is a congenital anomaly that will not harm your cat in any way. The most famous polydactyl cats are probably Ernest Hemingway’s cats, whose descendants still live at Hemingway House on Key West.
Thanks for replying Ingrid! That’s good info!
Why does my “torti” take a few drinks of her water with her paw before she uses her tongue? I’ve never seen this before. Is it only with “torti’s” or do other cats do it as well?
I don’t think that’s unique to torties, Sam. One theory as to why cats do this is that they can’t see the water in a dish all that well, and using the paw is one way to “verify” that there’s really water in the dish.
Some of my non-tortie kitties do a paw dip prior to drinking. I have one that makes 3 digging motions on the floor with his front paws before he drinks. I have no clue on why he does it he just always has since he was a baby.
Sam I have 2 Torties and 2 different cats (4 total). I have noticed that with a pan of water. I had wet paws on the carpets for a while. Then I bought them a stainless steel Drinkwell that has four waterfalls coming down continuously, thus no more wet kitty paws.
A commentary on cat physique and behaviour.
Gigi, the long hair “kinder, gentler” tortie is like a number of long hair cats I have observed; shorter legs and tail, solid, “cobby” body. She is not over weight, just a big, 14 pound girl.
Her body is almost square in cross section, like a 4″ x 4″ wood post.
This make it easy for her to lay on her back, which she like to do, frequently, she can do this on a piece of furniture, a rug or a hard floor, with no problem, for quite a while.
Tim, in the other hand, is quite gangly and is not capable of doing this, Taz, well, he wouldn’t even make the effort 😉
Glen, my Russian Blue cat Freedom is built like that “Her body is almost square in cross section, like a 4″ x 4″ wood post.” She is exceptionally strong and muscular. She had been a feral for at least 3 years that I know of. The other 3 are just built large, lean and long. Justice the older Tortie is the smallest. Liberty, my tiger gray tabby, and Dajudge are just plain tall, long and lean. Dajudge has no Tortitude in her at all. She is gentle and loving. Unlike Justice who is ready, willing and able to take you on. Then there is Freedom, their momma. When she is ready, willing or able to take them on they all scatter. She is a fierce “Tortie” in gray.
I hope everyone is voting for Ingrid and Bernadette on the Petties.
Will make for a wonderful party to celebrate.
Torties don’t “suffer” from Tortitude. They show they are the HEAD of the household and you suffer if you disagree.
Stirfry is Definately the Alpha cat.
Yeah, my Kasey made everything, in the house, with four legs, suffer from tortitude; she seemed to enjoy it 😉
I rescued her at 8 to 9 years of age, the 5 years I had with her were good, but too short; even if I knew that when I brought her home, it was worth it.
Gigi is a “kinder gentler” long hair tortie we took in last March, must be the ginger face, and/or the white spot on the chest and the white feet; Harry says the white is a safety valve for the tortitude 😉
Although if 1 year old Tim, who she likes to play with, pushes things a bit far, he can awaken the inner tortie, to his dismay. A 14 pound long hair tortie in hot pursuit, at full gallop is an impressive and intimidating sight.
I had my tortie calli for going on ten years. She has been an amazing part of my life. Ive noticed that she does suffer from tortitude. She thinks she has claws but she is declawed however that doesnt me from loving her any less. 🙂
“Suffering from tortitude” is a good way to put it, Lynn! These torties of ours can be challenging, but like you said, we don’t love them any less for it.
I thought WE suffered from Tortitude. They just show us who the real boss is.
I had never even seen a Tortoiseshell before but 16 years ago a friend’s cat had kittens and we adopted 2 — both female , one black and one Tortie. I was taken aback by “Shellie-Bell’s” personality — she was always the trouble maker, removing wallpaper, shredding furniture. But the oddest thing she does (yes even at the age of 16) when I try to pick her up she digs her claws into the rug and I can only lift up her back end.. she hangs on to the carpet without fail. And if she happens to be on the hardwood floor.. she grabs the nearest object that she can sink her nails into such as a chair. If I have to get her to cooperate – and actually pick her (which I don’t do often since it appears she does not like it) I have to pick up her front paws first and keep them in my hands to eliminate her ability to remain in place. I actually have to warn people who come into my home not to pick her up since that would result in potential injury to the senior cat since they are not expecting it.
We love Shelly and her sister (Nettie) very much..and would not change either of them. We have replaced the wallpaper we keep her favorite chair for her scratching and just live with the damage out of love.. I was just wondering if this is unique to her or if this is a trait of a Tortie.
What an interesting “quirk,” for lack of a better word! I have not heard of this, and I definitely don’t think it has anything to do with Shellie-Bell’s being a tortie. The trouble-maker part, however, tends to come with tortitude. 🙂
Hi Kathy, (Shelly’s Mom. Welcome to the Tortie site. I see you have had your Tortie, Shellie-Bell for 16 years. That is wonderful. While Torties are in a class of their own, each have different personalities. I had a beautiful Tortie, named Steeler. She had some fascinating behaviors. I loved her dearly. Now I have 2 young Torties. Each is total opposites of the other. One shows me Tortitude on a regular basis, and picking her up, when I want is out. Picking her up when she wants to be babied is another thing. My other Tortie did not get much Tortitude. Dajudge is the sweetest,most lovable Tortie. So to say a quick or being unique to the Tortie is difficult. Each is different and each is so darned lovable we tolerate their wacky ways. I would say after 16 years, I would do like you are doing. Let her do whatever keeps he happy.
Hi Kathy, I have been off this site due to PC problems so I am just catching up.
Each cat is different to being picked up.
My Tortie – Sirfry has the most Tortitude but she can be picked up easily. The other Torties Styx and Tabatha are also easy. My silver kitten Arianrhod will eave stay still when I reach for her but my Tuxie Frank loves attention but going to pick him up get the same results as your Shellie-Bell – running or grabbing for the nearest object. But once I have him in my arms he calms down and after being set on the ground I can pick him up again without a fuss. He was a feral but doubt if that is why.
It’s a new day. I hope everyone voted before they did anything else.
I did.
Ingrid deserves to win another award – She has the most popular Cat Blog and such a devoted family here and Bernadette and The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse are due the recognition they deserve. Please vote and tell friends and family on FB to vote also.
Congrats to Ingrid and Bernadette on being nominated for the Petties Awards – Best Cat blog and Best Pet blog. I expect EVERYBODY will be voting. You will be watched over by Steeler, Kasey and Sabrina. If you want to stay in their good graces then you will be voting.
Thanks, Jay! I guess The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse were pretty effective! Now on to the next round…
Thanks, Jay, and congrats again, Bernadette! I love that we’re not competing with each other – Bernadette has my vote for sure!
Yes, Ingrid, I’m truly glad we’re not in the same cat-egory–here to another trophy for your shelf!
Wow am I ever happy for you two. Bernadette Kazmarski and Ingrid King. Now there will be no competition between friends, and that includes all of us. Onward and upward for both of you. I am voting much more easily now. 🙂
Last night, 1 year old Tim, our little orange guy (10 pounds) found out that his disrespectful and immature actions could cause an over ride of Gigi’s white markings (her tortitude safety valve).
They were playing and he knocked her over.
At 14 pounds, she is not overweight but is very stocky, with short, sturdy legs.
She reared up like a bear and Tim stood up to match her.
However, she just pushed him over backwards, even though he uses his thick tail like a kangaroo as a stabilizer when he sits up.
She effortlessly pushed him over and pummelled him, however, this was soon forgotten and play resumed a few minutes later.
Glen, you must get a video of them playing. I try to get ones of Stir playing with me and how she interacts with others. I was lucky to get one of Steeler talking and eventually will do the same of Frankie talking to his imaginary friends.
Tortitude safety valve – I love it!
I can’t take credit for it, it was Harry’s idea.
I liked it, too.
I was wondering if anyone else’s cats do this.
Taz likes to sit with me, but on the arm of a chair.
However, he has to touch me when he does this, with either a front or rear paw.
It is as if he likes, or needs, the contact.
If I am on the bed Stir will jump down and lay on my lap. Same on the couch in the living room. With Bernie, Stir will be on the headboard of the bed and constantly hit her head with her tail. Bernie moves and Stir moves.
Columbia (my tortie), lays on my lap, but when she isn’t in my lap and is sitting near me she always stretches out one paw and rests it on my thigh. It feels very endearing and painful, painful due to those dang sharp curled claws of her that she likes to use to grip my leg.
She doesn’t grip all the time, but enough that my thighs look like they have been at a battle…lol
I’m sorry I’ve been slow in responding – I was away for the weekend and, for the most part, unplugged. I got to spend the weekend with about 20 cats and kittens, between the two friends I visited – and only two torties in the whole bunch!
I have a tortie Calico and her name is Missy.I am so amazed that her tortitude is validated by your blog! I have another b&w cat Panda who is so different.
Missy is very devoted to me, almost like a puppy but without the constant need for approval. Missy makes it very clear who her favourite human in the house is and only eats what’s best for her ( no human dinners). I love her to bits and don’t feel the need to figure her out even though she is totally unpredictable and strong-willed.
Best of all I love her morning head butts 🙂
Welcome to the group. We are a family here and love to hear about others Torties. Some are mild and some a wild. I have one of each. Please tell us more about Missy.
Nivi, great to hear from you. Glad you found our group. We enjoy hearing about the kittens and their attitudes. You seem to have a Tortie Cally that has the Tortitude as we call it. Torties do love their human and head butts are something they do. My one Tortie, Justice lowers her head for a “kitty kiss”. But she is full of Tortitude. My other Tortie is Dajudge and she has no Tortitude at all. She is just a sweet and loving girl. I also have the mother to Justice, and a grey tiger tabby, both are Freedom’s kittens. Dajudge is her granddaughter. The mom Freedom is a Russian Blue and is full of Tortitude. You mention a B&W named Panda. I can assure you not one of my four are alike. Each has a different and distinct personality.
Oh by the way, we don’t even try to figure Torties out. I think they are in a class no others can touch.
My Tortie Lore is quite the little character..She is very extra curious and wants to know everything that happens….This is my first tortie and I have fallen hopelessly in love with her…Penny
Hi Penny. Welcome to this blog. Most of us have experienced the feelings you have for you lovely little Tortie, Lore. They are truly out of the normal. But once you are owned by one, you quickly become so attached to and love them so very much. I have 2 Torties plus 2 other cats. I love them all.
Missy sounds wonderful, Nivi. Welcome to the wonderful experience of being owned by a tortie!
Today while walking on the beach I found a milk top, which was Sabrina’s favorite toy. I can’t help but think that it was a sign from her. I’m not sure what it means though. It made me smile nonetheless 🙂
Rachel, I have no doubt that the milk top that you found made it’s way to the beach via the Rainbow Bridge. Sabrina put it there for you to find – and it’s great that it made you smile. It’s great when the pain of losing them starts to ease and we start to smile at the wonderful memories we will always have of our little ones.
Thank you, Margaret. As Bernadette says, there are no coincidences. When I looked at my calendar tonight, I realized the meaning as soon as I saw the reminder that Sabrina was due for her monthly heartworm treatment today. She’s playing again, and wants us to know she’s all right.
Harry, you are so right. I bet Sabrina remembered she was due for her heartworm treatment today (Gracie always knows when her flea treatment is due – why is that!) … and she thought you would need some reassurance that she’s OK. That’s so beautiful. I am sure our loved ones are always around and giving us signs.
Rachel, don’t even think about it. Sabrina sent that milk top to you at that very time. It means she is an angel watching over you.
They always send some little sign, so subtle we might miss it if we’re not aware. She got two of you in one little message.
And Margaret is right–when the memories stop hurting and start making you smile, you are starting to heal.
I love it when they leave us these little signs.
Gosh it is so quiet here. I guess I will have to tell a non-Tortie story. Although she gave birth to a Tortie, Justice.
Well I was taking a carton out to the garage and did not look back to see if the door had closed. Well when I came out of the garage I seen this pretty cat, and dummy me said to myself ” That really looks like Freedom.” Well it was Freedom looking at me as if to say ha ha. When I called to her, she ran under the heavy shrubbery. So after trying to coax her out, the defiant one went deeper into the shrubs. Well it was raining and I thought I am to tired to chase her, so I went into the house. Pretty soon, I see this pretty gray cat on the porch meowing over and over. Yes, you guessed it. Freedom found out real fast, “Hey what am I thinking. Let me in,please. So I opened the storm door and this bolt of lightning went flying into the house and up to the second floor. I laughed and thought, uh uh Freedom, you were A feral cat, but you sure knew fast enough where your home was. Welcome home little escapee!! 🙂
Hah, Bernie, it’s just that she knows where she is well off. When I get anxious about how long Gracie has been outside or if it’s starting to get a little dark and she’s still outside, Mum always tells me not to worry, “she knows where she lives and she knows where she gets fed”. It’s so true. No doubt Freedom thought it was all a game until you disappeared!
Margaret you and your Mom are so right. Freedom realized faster than ever what a bit mistake she had made. She is now sleeping on the left foot side of my bed. Her favorite sleeping spot. She knows a good thing when she has it. 🙂
Margaret, have a wonderful trip. Miss Gracie will tell you all about her stay at the catterie when you return. 🙂
I hope everyone has been voting on the Pettties
Well, Tortie Lovers, I’ve just booked Miss Gracie into the cattery for 12 days while I head to NZ with my extended family for a 60th wedding anniversary celebration. Even though the lady that runs the cattery is just fantastic, Gracie HATES the place with a passion, and I usually spend every minute of the time that I am away hoping she is doing alright and not causing too much trouble. The last time she was in there she bit the owner’s sister-in-law and drew blood. When it came time to pay and I was owed a few coins of change, I told them to keep it to put it towards the cost of their band-aids. At least they got a laugh of it! We head off on 12 July, so two weeks on Friday – and I’ll be off work for two weeks (not that I’m counting!). Looking forward to the break but will miss seeing your updates while I’m away. It’s been a little quiet on here lately – hoping that means that everybody is just extra busy with pet duties! Take care everyone!
Margaret, have a great vacation and hope Miss Gracie has a less stressful time. Maybe she can teach attitude to the other cats. Stir is a master teacher.
I hope Gracie does well while you’re gone. I know it’s always a worry, no matter how well they’re taken care of when we’re gone.
Ingrid King gave me so very good advice a while back. This was after one of the kittens had knocked down an $ item. She told me “museum gel. Right, ok this stuff really works. Now here is something I had not expected. I had purchased 4 jars of it. Well today I went to get one of the jars and oh oh!! it had leaked onto the glass shelf in my kitchen cabinet. Now half the items on the shelf are down tight!!
Now that would have been a great help with the kittens breaking anything, but this shelf is behind the stained glass cabinet doors. I just looked at that shelf and said “not today”, I am not in the mood to clean and save the gel just yet. Maybe tomorrow, but not today. The really good part of this tale is that Museum Gel really holds tight!!!!!!! 🙂
It’s a lifesaver (or tschotkes saver, as the case may be), isn’t it?
Ingrid good one. I also know the only why to get it off is slowly and meticulously. But it holds firm. 🙂
Ingrid King you knew I would look your new word up, tschotkes- german word for nicknacks and etc. Not fair. I don’t speak German. Of course when I was in Germany “beer and Ale” was no problem along with a few others!!!! 🙂
Cat Story from recent flooding in Calgary, Alberta.
This is quite a story, I suggest searching for Momo Cat Calgary Flooding;
http://o.canada.com/2013/06/21/momo-the-cat-the-hero-we-deserve/
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Momo+owner+surprised+feline+swim+safety/8566107/story.html
http://o.canada.com/2013/06/21/momo-the-cat-the-hero-we-deserve/
Video (an ad comes up first)
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/momo-the-cat-and-owner-doing-well-after-flood-ordeal/8160/
I posted about this on our Facebook page yesterday. What an amazing story!
The other thing is, she’s a big cat for 8 months old, as the pictures show. I read somewhere that she is part Maine Coon, which may explain the size and swimming ability.
What a great story. Not sure if any of mine would jump into the water. I figure Frankie can float (think soccer ball) but Stirfry would demand I carry her on my back.
I read and watched the video on the computer when it hit the news. What an amazing cat. Her determination to survive the flooding was nothing short of miracle. It shows that, when our cats have to fight to survive, they can win even in flood waters. Loved that story.
Sorry, That should be Arianrhod. She takes pride in her special name. 🙂
Today I have to take Arian to the vet to be spayed. Hope she is easier to catch than last time.
Last night I tried to put Arian in my kennel downstairs by putting a dish of food in there. Caught 2 cats that way. Frankie was in there first. I told Bernie about that and she mentioned that Arian should not have food the night before. So I took it out but left them both in there. Figured that Arian would be easier to catch in the morning and Frank would keep her company at night (if one did not eat the other). I: saw Arian putting her paw thru the bars and acing the cage as if looking for a way to escape. 30 minutes later I went downstairs to check on them. The cage was empty. I looked in the big box inside expecting to see Frankie and Arian cuddled together. Nothing. I then saw Arian near my gun safe and Frankie coming down the steps. Now Arian I can see squeezing thru the bars or climbing out. But Frankie ??? Can’t picture her pushing him thru.
Success. I put food out 5 minutes ago (I had taken ALL food away last night) and I blocked off the bathroom and put a cage in there. As I put food out all the cats showed up. I grabbed Arian as she was beside Frank at the food dish. Got her into the cat carrier and now getting ready to leave. I thought Frank would wonder were his kitten was but he is still eating.
Arian is home now. She went in at 8:45 and I stuck around the area. Harbor Freight, K-Mart, Christmas Tree Shop and a Fireworks Outlet. Back to the Humane League and read a book in the car. They called me at 12:45 and said she was ready. I could pick her any time. I told them I would be in there in 60 seconds.She was happy to see me and I took her home.Frankie was happy then. Did not have the camera to get the picture of nose kisses thru the bars.
Still can’t picture Frankie getting out of the cage last night. All I can think of is Arian climbing up the side with Frankie holding onto her tail. Like the Lion in the Wizard of Oz.
Jay, Arianrod is a Western PA gal. She could and did show Frankie how to escape from the
“Jail” pen. You should not have taken for granted that she was going to just sit in a cage and take it. We Western PA gals don’t take orders very well!!!! 🙂 I thought you would have learned that by now.
I was really waiting anxiously to hear that she was ok and home safe, where she is so loved. Frankie was probably heart broken until he found out she was back home. He probably thought she was going away. Great kittens you have. Even “Stir” for her, and Styx are on good behavior tonight. Tabby is always a loving kitten.
This morning, I heard the sound of the toys and cat tunnels in the sun room having the daylights beat out of them.
My first thought was Tim, second thought was possibly Tim and Gigi.
However, Tim was out in the living room.
Gigi was by herself, running wild in the sun room, this dignified looking, 5 year old long hair torti has definitely found her “inner kitten”.
Glen that sounds like Gigi is one happy kitten. She knows she is safe, loved and has a forever home.
My Freedom, the feral 3 to 4 year old cat, mom to Justice (Tortie) and Liberty (grey tiger tabby) started acting like a kitten and learning to play too. It makes me happy to see her grow into a real indoor cat and she show her happiness the same as Gigi. The only difference is that every so often she will up and smack Liberty or Justice up side the head as a reminder of who is in charge.
Aww, that’s wonderful! And how cute that she did it when she thought nobody was watching.
So,FB is down, but I was planning on sharing this anyway, because it’s too funny! A guy I work with’s father had a barn cat who was a tortie. He’s a sci fi geek and, and he thought it was cool that it was a “Mutant” He was going to adopt her, but then his mother died and left 5 animals he has take care of….Fast forward a year. Today he asked me if “Your torti exibits any abnormal behavior. I asked “What abnormal behavior? He said, well, I was sitting there petting her, she’s SO friendly, and all of a sudden she bit and scratched me! I told him that was called tortitude
Lynn that sounds Normal to me. I see that every day. The sci fi geek needs to learn about “Tortitude”.
Definitely tortitude, but not reserved for torties only. This behavior is also known as petting aggression, and our own Harry Shubin wrote a great guest post about it: https://ingridking.com/2012/02/08/petting-aggression-in-cats-biting-the-hand-that-loves/
just adopted “allie'” 2 mos ago from animal shelter. thought she was calico but then was informed by another tortie owned that she is tortoiseshell. she fits every description from all the other cats and I do love her, but she can also be ‘nerve wracking’ but she’s not quite a year old. so hopefully she gets better. emily
“Nerve-wracking” is a good adjective for a tortie, Emily. Most likey, Allie will mellow out some as she gets older (usually, somewhere between age 2 and 4), but some of her tortitude will most likely just be a part of who she is.
So glad I found this site. I am a new Mommy cat,Torti, owner. I got Baili, 10 months ago
understand much more now. She is 4. very loveable…when she wants to be!!! She does
not purr, but she does hiss esp when she doesn’t like something. She loves the outdoors
I take her on a leash, as I live in a condo. Thanks and all comments welcome.
I’m glad this post helped you understand Baili better, Judi. She definitely sounds like she’s got tortitude!
About a month ago, I wound up fostering 12 cats — 5 of them are tortoiseshells and a couple are the dilute torties. Despite the fact that I have had cats in my life for over 35 years, I had never had a tortie! All the articles I’m reading hit the nail on the head–they are wonderful cats with a personality that is all their own. Thanks to the efforts of many, we have spayed/neutered all and have homes for all 12 lined up. However, I must admit I have a hankering to keep one of the tortie girls — she is delightful!
The dilute torties don’t appear to be as outgoing — they aren’t mean, but they don’t seem to seek out attention or show any signs of enjoying it when they get petted. In additional to the adult cats, there are five kittens — one of which bit the %^^&* out of my thumb when I tried to pick her up. I so appreciated the article about petting aggression as I think that might be her issue–that and loads of fear. We’ll keep working on all this, but know that reading all the posts have certainly been a great help
Bless you for helping all these cats, Elizabeth. There seem to be two schools of thought on dilute torties: some say the dilution enhances tortitude, others say it moderates it somewhat.
Elizabeth,the article about petting aggression by Harry Shubin is great. Harry along with Ingrid and Bernadette are our cat experts on here. I supplied the picture as that is my Tortie – Stirfry. She has not changed in all those years. If you were close by I would take the one that bit your thumb. My type of Tortie.
“.If you were close by I would take the one that bit your thumb. My type of Tortie.”
Yeah, me too.
I was wondering if this was what I refer to as a “dark face” tortie.
Gigi is ginger faced, with just enough white to dilute the tortitude, my Kasey had the dark face and very little white, she was my Warrior Queen and was very assertive.
Stir is a dark face but Steeler was a combo Black/Gold face. Steeler had the cute “pick me up and cuddle me” look. Big mistake if you did. Stir has the look that says “Don’t mess with me” and she means it.
I love hearing about Torties with attitude. Especially the little ones. They may be few but there reputation is well known. Kasey and Steeler will never be forgotten.
What a wonderful and kind person you are!! A house full of torties, I’m jealous..lol
Thank you for all you have done for these and the other furry babies you have helped.
(note to Ingrid and others, I am trying yet another email address to see if it sends me posts)
Elizabeth you are my kind of person. Taking care of so many kittens would be a full time job, but a fun filled one with benefits. I love kittens/cats. I now have 2 Torties, direct opposites, 1 gray tiger tabby and their Russian Blue Mamma. All rescued last year from June to August. I would definitely keep a Tortie kitten. If the one that bit you is a Tortie, keep her. She will give you years of enoyment and bewilderment. I find myself scratching my head about these precious kittens. So glad to hear from you here on Ingrid’s site.
Elizabeth,
Taking care of 12 torties, kittens & cats..what a caring person you
are. I am so grateful for people like you that do this. I am involved
with a local SPCA and have spent many years volunteering.
I just adopted a 3 year old tortie from the shelter. She is a little
thing, 6 pounds and so full of energy. Paris is still very shy with
me but loves her 3 year old Russian Blue brother, Ringo. They rub
noses and she follows him around knowing that he is the boss.
Much success in all that you do.
Beverly