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| Name: |
Pete
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Age: |
Eight years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Grey tabby
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| Home: |
Glen Rock, New Jersey, USA
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This
is our Pete, but his full name is Pizza Mediterranean Kittanunu. The
shelter where we got him named him "Mediterranean," and his sister
"Caribbean," because litter-mates got matching names. His last name
"Kittanunu" comes from the early SIMS videogames where the characters used
a word like that to refer to a cat.
Pete is almost sixteen pounds but he does not look it because of his petite
face and muscular body. When you call Pete's name, he responds with a
chirp, as if to say "yes". We found a web site on training your cat to do
tricks and it worked with Pete. He can sit, speak, and rub your leg on
command--for a cat treat, of course! But we could never teach him to "give
me your paw", like a dog, so we finally gave up.
We think that Pete is part Bengal cat because his hindquarters are higher
than his shoulders, giving him a slightly sway-backed swagger. We call
them his "rabbit rears" and he claws furiously with them when
play-fighting. He loves to paw at water coming out of a faucet and has a
remarkably long tail.
All cats have one peculiar habit. With Pete, it's that he likes company
when he goes to his litter box. When anyone enters the bathroom where
Pete's box is, he rushes right in after them.
Pete's favorite toys are plastic bags, which he likes to scratch on, and
fuzzy ponytail holders. When two people play "kitty in the middle" with
the ponytail holder, Pete he will jump, "four paws in the air", to try to
catch it. No commercial cat toys have ever appealed to him as much. (How
typically cat!)
Pete is a special kitty because, when he was six months old, he was said
to have dry Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), which is normally fatal.
The vet who diagnosed it, after a bout of fever and vomiting (and a
biopsy), told us that Pete had less than three months to live. But we
didn't give up on our Pete. With a lifetime regimen of Prednisone and
vitamins, Pete is still going strong. But, sadly - to him, anyway, he must
remain an only-cat and can't go outside to play.
We treasure each day we have with our sweet Pete!
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