The True Nermal

It’s a phenomenal feeling when your son tells you everyday for months that you got him the best birthday present he has ever received. This is usually the case though when it involves a kitten. It has been almost a year now since we have brought home that kitten for my son so I figured it was time to give her the spotlight.

Her name is Chloe. We told my son he could name her whatever he wanted. We were surprised when he picked a cute and fitting name instead of Mittens, Fluffy or something of the sort. I think he may have been inspired by the movie, “The Secret Life of Pets” but he denies this. It’s just coincidental that our Chloe also happens to be a gray cat like in the movie.

At the time, my friend’s cat had just had a litter that she was trying to find homes for. All the other kittens had been spoken for except one little gray dust bunny. About 80% of her was pure fluff with the remaining 20% being her actual body. She was only eleven weeks old and was so tiny she could fit in a tea cup! All Chloe wanted to do from the moment we met her was melt away in our arms, safe, cozy and protected.

Here we are about a year later and she’s still melting into our arms like an infant made of putty. She has her daily routine which consists of 8-10 naps throughout the day, only waking for the necessities that require moving. You know… eating and drinking , pooping, receiving attention. The three basic needs of cats. She rises after her morning/noon siestas, in a sleepy stupor. She realizes it has been far too long since she has had human interaction and tracks us down. With no mind or matter what we may be in the middle of, she meows every so sweetly and consistently until we pick her up and love her. She will also harass you endlessly if she can see a bare spot in her food bowl. There can be piles of food on the sides of the bowl, plenty for her to eat, but if she can see the bottom even the slightest bit she demands it be filled to the top. She then daintily paws out one piece of food at a time and eats it off of the floor. When she’s finished, she’ll paw out the next piece and eat that one and so on and so forth until she is satisfied. The same goes for her water. There cannot be one tiny hair in it, even her own. It must be totally fresh and filled to the top. When she goes to drink it, she has to shake her bowl so she can see the water rippling. In the process, she’s dragging her water dish across the kitchen floor spilling more water than she’s drinking. All the while, she’s not actually drinking anything because the water is sloshing around and she hates getting water on her chin. Life can be challenging for the domestic cat, let me tell ya!

Just one picture is fine….

….I said just one!

Besides naps, she also enjoys a good round of cat and mouse. In this game, you are the mouse. She comes out of nowhere and attacks your feet, legs, long hair, whatever she decides must die at the moment. She loves hiding under the bed…silently waiting…to leap out at me latching onto my leg like an octopus! It’s always in good fun and she never hurts us when she’s playing but by George she scares the crap out of me! She loves her kitty toys. Mr. Owl, a stuffed owl who squeaks and is always covered in catnip, is a top pick of hers. Although, her favorite “toy” is the plastic seal you peel off of milk cartons and such. I had left one on the table and when she came across it (jumping on the tables like bad kitties do)she went ballistic! She was batting it around, chasing it and carrying it around proudly like a fresh kill. You could spend hours watching this cat play with garbage. It is absolutely hilarious. Especially since she is still in that young, clumsy stage. Now I always throw them on the floor for her to enjoy for a while.

She is a riot and we love having her around. I still find it irresistible to run up to her and pet her and squeeze her and love her just like Elmyra from Tiny Toons! Her fur is ridiculously soft and she is so trusting she will droop over your neck like a scarf, just hanging there. She will lay in your arms, roll around getting comfortable and expect you to catch her if she starts to fall. She would love to be chauffeured around the house, sleeping in your arms. The less effort she has to put in the better. Even when you try to set her down, she won’t put her legs down and support herself. She will just lay wherever you placed her, however you placed her. I have never met such a “lax-a-daisy” cat! Even as I currently write this, she is laying completely sprawled out in my lap, sleeping like a rock! I have to keep sliding the laptop closer to my chest because she’s gradually overtaking my bubble. Yet, I keep sitting here uncomfortably typing this to appease her. Damn cats…gonna take over the world with their adorably cute mind control they have over humans. “Awwwww….look at the adorable kitty cat!” After that, your hooked. They have officially taken control.

That is the story of how the true Nermal came to be. “The cuuuuutest cat in the world” and she very well knows it! Her little “cat”itude proves it. She is “paw”sitively spoiled. I am not “kitten” around. Ok…ok…I’ll stop. Thanks for stopping by this week! Hope you enjoyed meeting Princess Chloe.