Nicky: A Timid Tummy

Nicky helps fold the clean laundry with a distracting "tummy" pose.
(Click pictures for larger view)

"The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit almost any kind of decor, color, scheme, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the world's free souls." ~ Eric Gurney

When Nicky and his sister, Willow first arrived at our home, he was a strange and tiny little creature. Willow explored and bounded around the room with that energetic, independent kitten attitude. Nicky hid under the bed, propping himself up against the baseboards and refused to eat. He had been the "last to the table" when his mother fed the other kittens, just not that interested. The owner worried about him. After a full day of enticement with stinky canned food and dry kitten food that his sister inhaled, I bought a can of kitten formula and broke out a large syringe. I held him wrapped in a towel and offered the treat. He took one taste and wrapped his paws around the syringe and drank the whole thing. We fed him like this for two days and suddenly he began to eat dry kitten food and play and grow. He still is smaller by comparison than his sister but is a huge cat in relationship to all the others.

Timid Nicky hides under the cover. (One of my favorite pictures)

The one thing Nicky has never outgrown is his timid nature. He prefers to spend his days on my parent's bed than with the other cats. Of course, this may be due to the thermafoam mattress pad they have on their bed as he craves comfort. He hides under the bedspread and twists his body into contorted shapes as he sleeps. He turns and shows his belly as a distraction technique, begging for his morning tummy rub. Nicky slinks, rather than walks. He always looks as if he has just been caught in a lie or has stolen a piece of ham off the dinner plate. He still sleeps on his back, props on the baseboards and hides under the curtains and in closets.

Color point, blue mitted lynx Ragdoll. Quite the handsome devil!

Perhaps as he ages he will come out of his shell. I did see him chase his sister, Willow through the den... at least until she stopped and swatted him. And he does follow Maggie around, although I think this is a "puppy love" type of thing and Maggie has more emotional issues than he does. Primarily, he is handsome with his gray-blue points, pink nose rimmed in black, blue almond eyes with white eyeliner, his lynx facial stripes and that tiny white star in the middle of his forehead. His tiny little voice hasn't changed since he was a kitten and he is still very unassuming. One word to describe this gentle giant? Sweetheart!

Nicky is visiting Cats on Tuesday, hosted by gattina. He will be embarrassed by me showing his tummy at Tummy Tuesday over at catstuff. His sister Willow was the subject of the Photo Hunt post on Saturday so Nicky felt it was his turn to be here today. I agreed.
Nicky is so shy he is afraid to ask if he can board Friday's Ark at the Modulator on Friday or go to the Carnival of the Cats on Sunday. I told him it was OK. This week's Carnival is hosted by Books for Israel. See you there.

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