Purrfect Panache

Good Morning and welcome Dear Reader:
I hope you slept well and it was not too cold for you to get out from under those warm blankets today. If you haven't done so yet, stretch; grab your morning beverage and hopefully a healthy breakfast. 
         Ever wonder what your cat (if you have one…or two… or....) is up to when you're away for the day? Unless you have a kitty cam, you'll never know. Let me properly introduce myself. I’m Gabriella Gazette, but you can refer to me as 'Gabbers' since talking and writing are my favorite pastimes, when I’m not chasing mice. I will be reporting to you from eastern Long Island's South Shore twice a week.  I am very excited to share my first official blog with you.  I have chosen to do it by beginning with an informal diary, leading into the day's story. My intention is for this blog to be an easy, enjoyable read to start off your day in an interesting way and on occasion, get the scoop on celebrity felines and their owners. And I will share some helpful information.
          Yes, I’m a cat, and though you will happily not forget that fact, I promise you will be purrfectly intrigued by the stories of me and the rest of the furry folks you'll meet here, namely Pinkie, Blue, and Clyde (pictured below),

To begin with, a brief history of our roots, so you can know and understand us better.  Beginning with me. Before living in my present owners' home, I was sheltered at a pet store. My previous owners had been renting the home we lived in and one day they up and moved, and I was left behind to fend for myself out on the streets. I was 3 months old and it was in the middle of winter. Some older kids took turns torturing me. Luckily, a lady from Valley Stream Cat Rescue (VSCR) took me to a a pet store that worked with her rescue team to shelter unwanted cats. 

I watched as people passed by my cage, going straight to the youngest kittens as I kept growing larger from sitting in my little cage without exercise. I longed for a home with a loving family and was determined to find it. 
                 
        One special day, nearly six years ago, a couple ended up at my cage and were cooing at Mocha, a pretty coffee and cocoa colored kitten who was about 6 weeks old. I was 6 months by then. Mocha's cage was right next to mine, but the couple didn't seem to know I existed. There was another kitten on the other side of my cage, but it was meowing continuously, and the couple was trying in vain to get it to come to them. The lady reminded me of the same lady who had rescued me from the streets. She was stroking Mocha’s head and talking softly to him and giggling at how he kept bouncing off the walls and playing peek-a-boo from this fuzzy circular toy. It seemed that the lady and the gentleman with her were having trouble deciding whether to take Mocha or Angel Cake. Angel Cake was the white fluffy kitten who was meowing loudly and would wander all around the cage as if it was looking for its mother. I stretched my paw through the cage, and managed to touch Angel Cake and he calmed down. Suddenly, I found the couple watching me with fascination. When the lady came close to my cage, I quickly reached out to her and gave her the warmest look with my big, bright, golden eyes. I heard her say, "wow, this one's a girl and, look, she has a black beard!" It wasn't long before the couple, who are called the Huns, forgot all about Mocha and Angel Cake and started playing patty cake with me.  They even bought me this super soft windowsill cat bed.
          Well, enough about me, let’s get to know the other cats. For example, Pinkie, a ginger-colored tiger-striped cat with a freckled, pink nose leather, bright pink paw pads, pink ears, and hazel-green eyes, was already a part of the Huns' household and therefore the Alpha. He and I endured our extensive hissing session which seems like ages ago, now that we get along so purrfectly. Blue was an abandoned newborn and the Huns had to feed him kitten formula from a bottle and express him like a mother cat would. I confess I have never got along with Blue.  Clyde is another cat that was sadly abandoned by the neighbors who lived next-door, in the dead of winter. But Clyde is different in the sense that he has transformational powers. He is a cat that can transform itself into a human. It's a strange phenomenon, which will be explained in more detail in the coming weeks.  Clyde also has Feline Stomatitis. The Huns feed and medicate Clyde when he comes around if they are home.  Clyde is the only outdoor cat right now and serves as our freelance field reporter.                                                                                                                                

         
      Sitting at the window sill, we can see the full view of the bus stop that is almost in front of our house.  Clyde, in human form, is outside holding onto a grocery cart, loaded with plastic soda bottles, gazing at a blue jay as it builds its nest in our mulberry tree. He sniffs the air. A tall, slender woman is standing there waiting for the bus while sipping a coffee and eating a bagel. “I wonder if that bagel has lox and cream cheese on it,” says Blue, his nose pressed against the glass. “I do see something orange and white in between the bagel halves,” confirms Pinkie, who is on a restricted tuna diet. The woman repeatedly looks up and down the street. She is in her late thirties or early forties. Her blonde highlighted brown hair is worn back in a loose chignon with loose tendrils blowing freely in the wind. She irritatingly, brushes the stray hair strands away from her face, as she gathers the front of her trench coat up to her neck with her free arm to protect her face from the wind and keep warm. She eyes Clyde suspiciously, but he reassures her with a friendly smile.                                                               

       "That woman is sporting a real cat-tit-tude," notes Blue. "That depends on which cat you're referring to," I snap. After finishing her coffee, the woman walks over to the trash bin where she dumps her empty coffee cup, then returns to the bus stop. Clyde immediately goes to the trash bin and lifts out the half eaten bagel. After a while, the woman starts methodically digging into her shoulder bag for something, then starts pulling items out of her bag more frantically. She looks worried and frustrated as she re-checks her bag several times before going back to the trash bin where she picks up her previously discarded coffee cup and bagel and then looks around some more.
        "I wonder what she lost" says Blue, scratching his head. In the meantime, Pinkie has been observing the woman closely and notices Clyde nibbling the bagel from the garbage bin while looking around the decorative cabbages in the whisky barrel planter. "There it is," exclaims Pinkie "I see it too" I finally say. "What is it?" Blue asks eagerly. "It’s a bus pass" I tell him. "Her bus pass," says Pinkie pointedly, "I think Clyde may have seen her drop it".  "A bus pass?" asks Blue. "She could have saved the money she spent on that shoulder bag for a down payment on a car," he adds. "Pinkie taps the window with his claw, trying to get the woman's attention, but she never looks our way. Clyde gives us the thumbs up; proudly displaying the woman’s bus pass.  Just then the bus arrives. We all start tapping the window pane, simultaneously swatting it with our tails for Clyde to take action.                                                                   

           Clyde walks over to the woman and tries to give her back her bus pass. "Leave me alone, she shouts; shrinking away from him, and in a huff, sashays onto the bus. We see her pull out a bill from her shoulder bag to pay the driver, but he shakes his head. "You have to have exact change" whispers Pinkie, reading the bus driver’s lips. Then, there is a slight delay. It appears as though the woman is trying to get change from the other passengers. The door to the bus remains open while the woman is making an appeal to anyone with change for a fifty dollar bill. "Lady, I operate on a tight schedule," the bus driver growls displaying his watch.  Clyde, who is transformed into a cat, swiftly leaps into the bus and before the bus driver can object, Clyde gives the bus driver's shoe the ole friendly 'Clyde caress', and drops the bus pass at the driver's feet. "You sure are a smart one" the bus driver chuckles, petting Clyde affectionately.  “Is this your bus pass?" the bus driver asks the woman, who looks a little sheepish but relieved. She thanks the bus driver. "Don’t thank me; I didn't find it,” says the driver looking in Clyde’s direction.  The woman turns superciliously to thank Clyde. She starts to pet his head, but changes her mind and promptly takes her seat.

Tune in twice weekly tabby lovers. We are purring in anticipation of receiving your comments!