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| Name: |
Clifton
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Age: |
Thirteen years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Domestic Cat
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| Home: |
Ohio, USA
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Meet Clifton. Can you see the catitude? I found Clifton on a busy city street corner one Labor Day. Midway into a divorce and on my own, I was looking for a kitten to keep my younger cat company, but alas, I couldn't! Boy, was Clifton the answer to my prayers.
Clifton found me. I was on a run with my trainer, when my trainer started saying "No, kitty ... NO kitty." It was Clifty, across a five-lane busy road, coming toward us. A kind gentleman on that corner talked to the tiny dirty kitty until we made it across the street. Clifton ran up to me, purring like crazy (he knew what he was doing)! I looked around for who might have lost the tiny critter, and when no one was visible, started my run back down the street, WITH Clifty. My trainer says "HEY where you going with that cat?" I replied "HOME!". He took the kitten from me and rode his bike steering with one hand and holding Clifton in the other. Clifty was so thirsty, he was licking sweat off Michael's chest to drink! :(
I thought it would surely be a LONG ride home, cats don't like cars much. Not Clifton. He curled up in my lap, and purred the entire way home. That all happened thirteen years ago. Cliff is now a gorgeous solid white guy -- and is he ever IN CHARGE.
His most important job is getting me up in the morning. He knows how to turn on the "touch lamp" beside my bed (and YES, he turns it on high). At 4 AM, every day, there's Cliff on the nightstand - he turns the light on, I turn it off. Repeat that about 10 times, then he resorts to climbing on to the headboard and clanging the vertical blinds to wake me. He has trouble adjust when Daylight Savings time ends (His clock isn't reset yet! :) The clock said 3AM, but Clifton thought it was 4. When the light and blind trick didn't work, he jumped into bed, and started digging the covers off me. Once he uncovered my head, he started to lick my eyelids open. Yes, he's in charge!!!
Now, that's pretty good you might say -- but not as good as the night he put me to bed. I was in bed reading a new magazine, and Cliff was in a particularly loveable mood. I petted him for a bit, but wanted to get back to my magazine. He sat on the bed looking rather rejected, then jumped over to the table...turned that touch lamp OFF, then went over to the dresser, lay down, and went to sleep. I was DUMBFOUNDED. (Yes, I went to sleep then. I don't argue with him any more).
Cliff also has taught my "special needs" cat, Flakey, how to be a cat again. Flakes spent several months in a small cage, rejected by his owner before I adopted him. Flakes walked hunched over, and had no idea how to (or why he should)play. Clifton took his little play mice out, plays for a while, lies down on the side of the room, and lets Flakes have a turn, under his watchful eye of course.
I hope you think Clifty is just half as special as I think he his. He's a beautiful guy, and I'm so happy he found me.
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