Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Miss Emmie

Miss Emmie busts a move.

OK, I think Miss Zoe and I have beaten around the bush here and there about our Crazy Cat, Emmie for long enough.

Shall we Begin at the Beginning?

Yes, we shall.

We have an unwritten rule in this house. Actually, it may be a written rule. I'm not sure.

The rule is this: Don't look a Stray Cat in the Eye.

You may ask, "Who made up this rule?" Well, that would be the Blisschick.

Which explains why (or, maybe it doesn't explain why) I was at work a few years ago and I got a call from a very anxious sounding Blisschick, who yelled into the phone, "Frog! There's a cat in the hedge in the backyard with seafoam green eyes, and I looked right at her!"

Well, I knew what that meant, didn't I?

After spending days trying to catch her and finally doing so, we took her to the vet and got her de-everythinged. We had a friend who was all set to take her. We brought her home from the vet, unzipped the carrier, and the Blisschick said, "Welcome home, Miss Emmie!"

Emmie and her friend, Woolly Ball.

WHAT?

The other cats couldn't believe it. They did not want another cat. Not in the least!!

Especially when they found out that Miss Emmie was crazy! Absolutely NUTTERS!!

But, it seemed we had a new cat. Emily Dickinson. The Woman in White.

I wish I could say that she wasn't crazy right away. But, she was. She would stare in the most unsettling way at all the other animals. I remember spending more than a few almost sleepless nights downstairs on the couch in some strange effort to protect the other animals at night. I would drift off in fits and starts only to to open my eyes and find myself being stared at by a totally psycho looking animal. Miss Emmie had found a home.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that she first bit her tail.

We had gone out of town and left Miss Emmie and the others (Miss Zoe did not live here yet) in the care of our Trusted Catsitter. The day after we got home, Miss Emmie started growling and hissing and totally wigging out. All of a sudden, she bit her tail squarely on the tip, almost biting it off, as she proceeded to run around the house painting everything in sight with blood and her tailbrush.

It was NOT pretty! Like a live cat-painted Jackson Pollock.

We took Miss Emmie to the vet ER, where she got her Cone:

The Cone!!

The Vet explained that Miss Emmie has is a neurological disorder called Wiggle Cat Syndrome or some such. He said that to her, her tail feels numb and that she probably doesn't realize it's even there. Her back muscles all along her spine get twitchy, she gets agitated, and then-- BAM! The tail goes into the mouth, and the rest is history.

Bloody Tail Massacre.

We even have special clothes deemed "Blood Clothes" for those times when the world seems extra dark to Little Emmie.

Luckily, after many years of this, we have a good system in place. We use Bach's Flower Remedy (or Cat Whiskey, as we like to call it) to take the edge off when Emmie gets extra pissed off at her tail. A few drops behind the ear and she passes out like a baby after a big lunch.

Besides that, we've learned how smart she is. When she feels poorly, all you need to do is hold the Cone out toward her, and she practically dives into it. The limited space seems to comfort her.

Sometimes, when she doesn't have her cone handy, the Cat Tent does just fine:

Look at that cute little cat.
She is hiding from her tail. Will it follow her anyway?
Hmmmmmm.... poor Miss Emmie.

And of course, we also keep her shaved, because, besides being a little crazy, she's also a bit lazy about grooming.

And, of course, by lazy, I mean she doesn't groom at all.

This regular shearing process has earned her her other nickname: The Lamb

We love our Lamb very much, and it is for this reason that we feel the need to explain her. If one can explain such an Animal.

Miss Zoe would like a chance to explain the Lamb. What was that, Zoe?

"That Cat? It's just a Crazy Cat.
But, we love Her.
I'm just sayin'."

Right you are on all accounts, Miss Zoe. Right you are.

6 comments:

Jennifer Hayes Hugon said...

Aw! Miss Emmie breaks my heart and makes me smile all at the same time. Many kudos to you and Blisschick for being a friend to this crazy little sweetie. She has found her forever home and it couldn't be better!

<3

Emma said...

I really loved learning more about Miss Emmie. I wondered what her story was!

I can definitely understand your don't-look-a-stray-cat-in-the-eye rule! If we weren't limited by our landlords...yowza. It would be hard not to adopt tons of creatures, especially the crazy ones.

So, Bach's Flower Remedy is that powerful?? I have heard a lot of people talk about this stuff in the past, but no one I know too well. Can you recommend it for humans?

Marcy Hall said...

miss emmie is a doll, isn't she.

i just told her how popular she is, and she is thrilled!

as for the bach's, it works great on cats. it probably works better on humans who have less tolerance for alcohol than i do. i'm a scottish girl, you know. we can drink you under the table. i'd give it a try, though. the flower essence thing holds a lot of validity, i think.

Lisa said...

I agree with Jennifer's comment - smiling and sad too. Thank goodness she found you guys (those cats are darned smart, they know just whose bushes to come thru)

I love her sitting with her sweet little head in her tent, hiding from her tail.

Zoe, you have a heart of gold, taking in all these crazy cats. It can't be easy for a rabbit with a busy schedule of rolling and salad eating to take care of them all :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing Miss Emmie's story.

My own kitteh, Miss Cleo, well it wasn't so much that she looked me in the eye when I first met her (at a cat shelter, where we were getting a cat for my b/f-at-the-time - but not for me). She was very shy and anxious and didn't do eye contact then.

She did a pathetic little meow and held out one of her paws. So I let her out of the cat cage and she came and lay down between my outstretched legs.

So you see, its not just looking stray cats in the eye that's dangerous, but letting them hold out their sad little paw to you as well!

Anyway, back to Miss Emmie. Personally, I've always liked crazy cats. They add colour to the place, and not just with blood on their tail brushes!

I'm glad Miss Zoe is accepting of others not quite as right in the head as her Esteemed Rabitness is.

Lisa said...

Oh, sweet Miss Emmie (aka Grizabella)!

What a treat it was to meet her in person! (And be the recipient of some of her loving attention!)

Thank you for sharing her story here ~ and for being the AMAZING souls that you are in taking her in and caring for her the way you do.