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| Name: |
Belle
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Age: |
Fourteen years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Cat
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| Home: |
Gretna, Louisiana, USA |
This
is Belle, our beloved scaredy cat! Yes, Belle is a scaredy cat; it's
almost to the point where you name it and she's afraid of it. I just hope
having her picture on the internet doesn't generate some kind of physic
energy traveling through the ether that her occult feline powers will detect.
That would no doubt frighten her!!
Belle was apparently dumped in my sister's neighborhood in Gretna as a very
sickly kitten in 2000. My sister took her in and once her health was
restored, she lived with my sister for eight years. After that, she spent about four
years at my niece's house. Unfortunately, she was terrified of my niece's
seven-year old son (even though Eli always treated her very gently) and would
hide all day until he was in bed.
I took her about one and a half years ago from my niece (thereby awarding
Tiffany the no-Belle prize) to see if we could get her a less stressful place
to live. Luckily, she has thrived with only a single human to cohabit with.
In fact, she astounded me by coming out to explore her new home on the very
first day she was here. I had figured on at least a week of hiding under the bed.
Belle knew me from my Christmas visits to Gretna over the years (before
retiring, I lived in Charlottesville, VA). After a few years of trying back
then, I was finally able to pet her but I'd have to corner her in the
stairway to the second floor where she always tried to retreat to when I
approached. Once I had her cornered, however, she was in ecstasy when I
rubbed her ear, scratched her back, or gave her a Belle-e-rub.
Belle is a very sweet kitty and loves attention. When she enters the room I'm
in, she announces herself with a low moaning meow and comes straight to me
and lets me know she's available for some petting (I sometimes call her the
Moaning Lisa). It took her a few months living here to feel comfortable
enough to sit in my lap but she finally has started, if only for ten or fifteen
minutes at a time.
Belle is still very playful and her toys seem to get re-arranged around the
house every night. She loves full (day time) access to my back yard.
Her sleeping habits are a bit strange. She had a kitty warming pad to sleep
on last winter but only used it on the warmer nights; she slept other places
on very cold nights??? She spends much of the day sleeping on my bed but
will not go in it until I've made it. As long as the bed is unmade, she
sleeps on a mat on the floor.
Since the passing of my twenty-year old calico, Twinkles, in January she is for
the first time in her life an only cat. It does not make much difference,
however, since she and Twinkles, except for an occasional near touching of
noses, had no interaction at all (Twinkles was also my sisters' cat and she
and Belle had lived together for years before being reunited at my house).
See more images of Belle!
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