Near the end of 2003 after years of giving my time and attention to other people's cats, I decided I wanted a tiny kitten of my own to raise.
She had me at "mew". Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, all big ears and a little brown button nose, when we met she was too young to go home with me right away so I visited her every afternoon, giving both of us time to get acquainted. The volunteer at the shelter named her "Primera", because she was the first of her litter to do everything - truly the leader of the pack. I decided to shorten the name to "Prima", somehow instinctively knowing that she would need a name that could be whipped out quickly.
Once she was home with me, we bonded instantly and she was such a sweet cuddley girl:
Whose cuteness was overwhelming at times:
Which made up for the times when she was not so sweet or cute!
(Yes, as a matter of fact she IS hanging from a curtain rod by her teeth)
Prima's a big girl now:
No surface in my home is too high for her - tall bookcases, top of refrigerator, even the bedroom door - she "runs" up the front of it and perches on top.
But she's still kind of silly!
Prima loves helping make the bed, she's just not very good at it. Her mortal enemy is the vacuum cleaner but strangely - she loves being lint-rollered. Prima has an extensive collection of toys that blink, buzz, chirp, and chatter to keep her entertained but in classic cat style a brown paper bag or a cardboard box is all it takes to really make her happy.
Prima is definitely a prissy princess - she likes everything just so and no changes to the routine. Fortunately for her, with all the changes in my life, I haven't done much traveling in the past few years and I'm home a lot.
Which in her mind means that I am at her beck & call, available to perform such services as she requests. One of my most important jobs is turning on the bathroom faucet whenever her majesty decides a few sips of fresh water is desired. I once neglected to explain this vital task to the person who was taking care of her in my absence. Apparently Prima got the message across as she stood on the edge of the sink, leaned down and delivered her best, "What are you stoopid?" expectant look. A priceless moment, lost due to lack of a video camera!
Prima is an indoor only kitty, but I've no concern that she'll ever get too chunky as she ages. She'll be 5 years old in a few weeks and toys or no toys, she still romps like she's 5 months old sometimes. She zooms around, chasing phantom prey and getting plenty of exercise. She also practices yoga frequently:
I am incredibly blessed to have her in my life. Whatever I may have given up - indoor plants, lit candles, small fragile knick-knacks - it's all worth it for what she gives me. And no matter how old she gets, she's still my baby.
9 comments:
That is so funny! As crazy as my cat makes me.. she would NEVER climb on anything!
She's much too busy chewing up every single thing in this house made of plastic.
And the water situation cracked me up :)
PS - I had to do a double take, my father's lady friend (passed a few years ago) her name was Preema!
What a sweet girl Prima is! So funny the picture of her hanging from the curtain rod. Thanks, Kath, you made my day with this story of her life and the pictures to go with it. You are truly blessed with a great friend. xxoo
What a sweetie! I can see how you'd just fall in love with that beautiful face. I can also see how you might overlook a few "interesting" behaviors. I've been doing a great deal of that this summer....
An Absurdly Gi-normous amount of it, as a matter of fact! ;)
What a magnificently lovely girl!
And thank you so much for your very thoughtful and moving comment in my blog. It helped more than I can say.
Doulton
Awww, she's so cute!
She is beautiful!
I think she's a closet Olympic-class gymnast!
Oh my goodness! She is adorable. I love her. I think she would have had me at 'mew' as well.
And the picture of her hanging from the curtain rod? priceless. completely priceles.
5 years old? Already?!?!? How time flies . . . well the best of happy birthday wishes from Auntie D and little cousin Izzy. Hope all your kitty dreams of play mousies come true. Cuddle and purr.
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