Minnie and Hannah Thompson: Furry Friends Fur-Ever
“At the end of July, we worried that our current cat Georgiana (nicknamed George), who’s quite skittish, would get used to being the only cat after our other cat passed,” says Hannah. “Although we were still grieving, we searched PetFinder.com, and when we saw Kimber, we were drawn to her markings and to how calm and centered she looked. We met her at PetSmart, adopted her several days later, and renamed her Minnie (Mouse) because she reminded us of a character from an old cartoon.
“While integrating her with George remains an ongoing process, we’ve been taking it slowly, one day at a time. We’re confident that they’ll eventually get along. We’ve been using the method recommended by Furry Friends as well as such cat behaviorists as Jackson Galaxy.
“Other than that, Minnie’s a delight. She’s the perfect cat. Definitely a lap cat, she purrs the whole time she sits with us. She loves being cuddled, petted and scratched and also loves grooming us -- particularly my partner Ian who has a buzz cut. We’ve leash trained her and take her out on nightly walks, which she absolutely adores. They’re very slow walks because she likes to sniff and check out everything along the way. Not only is she very cute trotting along beside us, she’s making friends with the neighbors, both feline and human, and she’s especially interested in our next door neighbor’s Siamese mix, Calipso.
“Having once been an outdoor cat, she didn’t really know how to play with toys. It took awhile, but now she plays with us and on her own. Her favorite toys are little plastic springs and a stick toy with a mouse stuffy at the end of the string. She likes when we hold the mouse in one place, wiggling it while she watches awhile, wiggling her back legs, and then pouncing! She also likes ‘singing’ to her toys and the crows through the window.
“When she sleeps, she prefers enclosed spaces. Our cat tree has a covered box on one level, which she loves. We call it the Minnie Mouse House. When she brings her mouse toy in with her, Minnie is in the Minnie Mouse House with a mouse.
“We’re very happy we adopted Minnie Mouse who truly feels like a member of the family. We sometimes call her Momma because she had had many litters before being rescued by Furry Friends. Hopefully, once she and George are fully integrated, George can learn something from her. Why? George’s litter was found without a mother, and we’ve often thought that she doesn’t really know how to be a cat. Luckily, Minnie has lots of experience teaching kittens how to be cats!”
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Furry Friends Fur-Ever Stories are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.
