Two Sisters

 

Sweet Rebecca -- a picture of love and trust.

Not-so-sweet, sister, Suzie Q. "You can take me out of the alley, but you will NEVER take the alley out of me!"

All that said, Suzie nevertheless likes the easy trappings of life on a cozy cushion.

Recently, I rescued two "feral" cats who had been living in the alley in back of my building for years. (I had them spayed as juveniles.)

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Some of my Yuppie neighbors began complaining about the cats "meowing" disturbing them. Never mind that the cats kept rodents away and never mind that the same people who complained about "meowing" are the same ones who throw loud parties every weekend. It somehow became my "responsibility" to "do something" about the cats.

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But the two sisters are as different from each other as day is to night. This despite them sharing identical lives and the fact that both cats welcomed my petting and handling of them when living in the alley.

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I rescued Rebecca one rainy morning last March after she had been missing for more than a week. Her tail was severely dented, she had lost weight and was extremely filthy and dehydrated. Moreover, she looked like a drowned rat in the pouring rain. It didn't require much effort to scoop up the severely weakened cat in my arms and bring her to my apartment bathroom.  

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Rebecca recovered very rapidly over the following week. Though a little nervous at first, Rebecca responded very positively to my overtures to pick up and clean her off. Later, I discovered that she greatly enjoyed being held and nuzzled like a baby.

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What Rebecca didn't enjoy was being confined to the bathroom. She quickly let it be known that she wanted to explore the rest of the apartment and meet my other five cats.

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Surprisingly, Rebecca adapted very well to my other cats (and one dog then) and they to her. Rebecca was confident, but not intrusive. She respected the cat hierarchy in my home and issued no challenges. At the same time, she held her own and showed no fear. It seemed almost too good and too easy to be true as usually when new animals are introduced, there are many "adjustments" for both newcomer and resident animals.  

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But who Rebecca most bonded with was me.   

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"More dog than cat," Rebecca follows me around, never leaves me alone and demands constant attention and petting. She is far more affectionate than most cats raised in human homes since kittens.

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Enter her sister, Suzie.

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I rescued Suzie six weeks ago due specially to the neighbor complaints. She wasn't injured or ill. Rather, I just scooped her up one evening and put her in a cat carrier. Easy as cake.

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Initially, I put Suzie in a large cage so as not to overwhelm her with the other cats and the strangeness of a human home. But Suzie wanted no part of the cage -- or me -- and yowled her head off in protest. My few attempts to pet her in the cage were met with loud hisses and swats from her claws.

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After only a few days, I released Suzie from the confines of the cage mostly to shut her up and avoid neighbor complaints about the loud "meows" coming directly from my apartment.

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I need not have worried over Suzie getting along with my other cats. On the contrary, she was delighted to again be reunited with her sister, Rebecca and like Rebecca seemed to know instinctively how to blend into the cat hierarchy without being intrusive.  

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However, what has not been "easy as cake" or in any way similar to her sister, has been getting Suzie socialized to me! -- This from a cat who welcomed my petting in the alley and even allowed me to cut mats from her fur on occasion!

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I have not been able to touch Suzie even once over these past six weeks or even get close enough to.

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That is not to say Suzie has been shrinking in a corner or is loathe to her new surroundings. On the contrary, she enjoys sleeping on cushy cushions, free-feeding and sharpening her claws on furniture. And Suzie absolutely worships her sister, Rebecca, often rolling over for her and trying to solicit her sister in play.

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Only Rebecca has become a "human oriented" cat now and chooses mostly to ignore her long devoted and beseeching sister.  

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What has perhaps been amusing about this entire fiasco, is watching the utterly shocked and disdainful look on Suzie's face whenever her sister is nuzzling on my lap and soliciting my attention.

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"HOW could you sell yourself out so cheaply to some lowly human? Have you forgotten where you came from?"

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Suzie then half-closes her eyes and gives me a dirty look as if to say, "You can take me out of the alley, but you will NEVER take the alley out of me! I am a proud alley girl!"

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Well, Okay.

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My only hope now is that Suzie will eventually (albeit reluctantly) take the cues from her much beloved sister and come around to me.

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But I won't hold my breath waiting for that; stubbornness and pride seemingly the main character traits of Ms. Suzie Q.  -- PCA

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