Individuality

Chloe (top left) & Clover (top right)
(Click picture for larger view)

"With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?"
~ Fernand Mery

I've been asked to help readers distinguish our four Siamese cats, just as I did with the Ragdolls. The collage above of our two matronly cats, or the "rednecks" as my dad calls them. (They wear red collars.) Chloe and Clover are sisters and the oldest of our crew at almost 14 years of age. Miss Chloe is to the top left, the first born of her litter. She is our prim and proper cat, always sitting at attention with front paws together and tail wrapped around them. Oh yes! Her most distinguishing feature? She is cross-eyed, all the time. I often wonder if she sees two of everything? She rarely meows, walks quietly through the house and loves to sleep in the bean bag chairs. On occasion she will walk slowly by another cat as if ignoring him/her, then suddenly whirl and slap them silly. Then she runs away; it's the old "hit and run" technique.

Miss Clover is a pacer, through the house from the back bedroom to the sunroom and back again at least ten times a day. She has been the "dark" one since birth with a mask that is deep black and body fur almost as dark; this color makes her most unusual blue eyes pop! Her eyes are a liquid deep blue with a marbleized, almost textured look up close. She is our opera star; she sings a loud "meoooowwww" over and over with a low tone. As all opera stars know, the acoustics in the bathroom are the best for singers and this is her primary performance venue. I would have to say that Clover is the most cranky; she wants what she wants and snarls when she doesn't get her way, although she seems to be mellowing with age.

Togetherness is this sibling pair's motto; they sleep together, eat together, clean each others ears and occasionally engage in neck biting, hissing and spitting at each other... but this passes quickly and soon they are again snuggled together asleep. The bottom two pictures show the difference in their coat colors.... in the left picture Chloe is on the left, in the right picture she is on the right.


Miss Scarlett (top left) and Mr. Rhett (top right)

Miss Scarlett and Mr. Rhett were orphaned at about 5 weeks of age and were donated to an auction at Nyssa's small school. Now they will soon be twelve years old.

Miss Scarlett is the embodiment of her namesake from Gone With The Wind, a true southern belle. When cornered, she has been known to produce the sound effects of feline gang warfare and do it all by herself. In fact, this has become a form of entertainment for her brother and Willow, one of the Ragdolls. Chase Scarlett into a room and sit back to watch the fireworks..... hissing, spitting, growling, screeching, yowling, see mom run in from the other room..... look up at mom with innocent eyes.... "we didn't touch her!" Scarlett has always been a bit rotund... a pear shaped kitty; but this year she started losing weight; at first we thought it was from her new habit of licking ice almost constantly but now the thought is hyperthyroidism. She has lost half of her body weight but eats well; we will know as soon as the labs come back. One physical feature? Her large white patch of fur on her belly. (lower left)

Last, but certainly not least is Mr. Rhett of the "moon eyes." Women adore him. Men envy his way with women. He is respectful yet attentive; genteel and polite, he speaks when spoken to and in the softest of voices. Rhett gazes deep into a woman's eyes and gently offers his paw with a soft touch on arm or leg, but is never overbearing. He is a watch cat and senses the arrival of visitors before they ring the doorbell; therefore, he is the first to welcome them into the house. Rhett is a people feline; he could not live without that human contact. And he makes the best footwarmer. Rhett is the heartthrob, the actor, the movie star... he IS Rhett Butler to the core and as such, bears his own unique identification tag that reads... "Babe Magnet."

Together this sibling pair have hit every high and low point of their human counterparts with knock down drag out cat fights and quiet times of mutual grooming. At the end of the day there remains simple annoyance. (bottom right picture..Scarlett on right)

So there you have it... how to differentiate between our four Siamese! Any more questions? Cats on Tuesday is at Gattina's again this week. You can visit her to find other participants as well. The Siamese are taking their turn on Friday's Ark this week and will visit the other cats at the Carnival of the Cats on Sunday. This week the carnival is hosted by Pet's Garden Blog. (end of post)