For those who don't remember or weren't here.  Miss Calico Girl (aka
MCG) was a rescue from a relative of Rob's(hubby) CNA's Boyfriend's
Uncle's yard.  Her previous hoomin moved from the mobile home park
next to Uncle and abandoned MCG in the process.  Uncle refrained from
shooting her once he found out that we were willing to take her in to
re-home her.  After she'd been here a week or two, I realized that
sending her to another place to live would be a form of abuse as she
was just learning to trust us.  I do not regret this decision one
bit.

MCG has learned to play a little, mostly pranks on the other cats.
She had Qui Gun Kit convinced that he was losing his mind, or else the
toys were stalking him.  He  had been playing with a mowsie.  After he
stopped, MCG picked up the mowsie and followed behind Qui Gun and
dropped the mowsie behind him whenever he sat down.  Qui Gun would
look behind him and see the mowsie and run.  MCG would then pick up
the mowsie again and then follow Qui Gun to where he's stopped and
leave the mowsie behind him again.  This happened for four stops with
Qui Gun getting increasingly paranoid.  After the fourth stop, Qui Gun
backed away from the mowsie with his eyes upon it.  MCG waited until
Qui Gun finally turned his back on the mowsie and then picked it up
and followed him again.  I'd like to say that Qui Gun Kit ran
screaming down the hallway, but instead he snuck under our bed and
squatted there facing out into the room.  MCG decided that this was
enough and gave up.  We had to pick up the mowsie and hide it because
Qui Gun was acting terrified of it  We'll give it back in a month or
two.

I have a head cat.  Before MCG, Merlin or QC would occasionally sleap
on my head.  MCG sleeps there most nights now, but she lays down on my
head only after I've gone asleep.  If I wake up during the night (1-4
times most nights) she will leave until I've gone back to sleep.  On
rare occasions, I've walked into the room to find her sacked out on my
pillow.  Merlin, who didn't give a rip before, sometimes gets jealous
of MCG sleeping on my head and will bully her off.  She is still timid
and will leave rather than stand up to the big guy.  One night he was
apparently going to attack her while she was sacked out on my head, so
she woke me up.  I held Merlin off of us with the grabber, while she
made her getaway.  After she was off my head, Merlin didn't care any
more and left me alone.  I missed her.

Miss Calico Girl used to gaze at me with a "Boy are you stupid"
expression on her face.  She doesn't do that as much any more.  I'm so
proud that I was the first person that she let love on her.  She now
lets Rob, Mandy and on occasion, Jim love on her too.  Today was the
first day ever that she trusted Rob's RN, Jackie, to love on her.  I
was so pleased.

She loves to be scritched at the base of her tail.  First she moves
her head from side to side, then she shivers her lower jaw.  She is
also one of those rare cats that like to be stroked.  She is also one
of the most gentle cats in the house.  Like Sonya and QC, she doesn't
use claw.  QC just stares down the idiot that disturbed her and Sonya
either leaves the area or starts a wrestling match.  MCG leaves the
area and hides if one of the other cats tries any meanness with her.
She is a gentle little girl.

When she was first brought over here, she was literally skin and
bones.  She weighed about 6 lbs and had extremely rough and brittle
fur.  Now she weighs about 11 pounds and her fur is soft and shiney.
She smiles most of the time and purrs with loud rumbly purrs that
vibrate through my pillow.

Her three favorite places are on the book case by my desk, Rob's desk
chair, and my pillow.  She rarely leaves our bedroom if Rob and/or I
are in it,  If we're both out of the room, she will come down the
hall, find us, then go back to the bedroom until she can't stand it,
then sneak down the hall to find out if we're still in the room we
were in when she left us.

I don't know what she went through while she was abandoned, but I've
noticed that she has issues with fly swatters, is timid, is terrified
that she is going to be hit as she ducks whenever someone raises their
hands, and jumps and runs from loud noises.  I long for the day that
she'll stand up and defend herself, will bravely go up to people and
accept pettin's from them and will complain about the food or toys
that she has to play with.  She's such a special kitty, I can't see
how anyone would abandon her to the bad, mean, world out there.

Pam S.