Squiggy, also
known as Cheese, Monkey, Doodle and *&$#, is a
13-year-old orange maniac. When he came to us, he was sweet and gentle. Soon he morphed
into the son-of-a-beast that he is today. When he wants to
be let outside Squiggy can scream so loud that the neighbors
must think I'm skinning him alive. If you are too close to
his "body bubble" when opening the door for him,
he gives you a open-clawed swat to punish
you for not reacting quickly enough to his orders.
Our new kitten, ZuZu,
idolizes her big brother, but he wants nothing to do with
her. She pounces on him every time he comes in the house (3
or more times a day) and immediately gets the poop beaten
out of her.
Squiggy is the only cat,
among over 20 in my lifetime, who actually scares me.
He can be so mean that he has cornered me, coming after me
on hind legs, front paws batting and scratching. This
behavior is brought on by his wanting to go outside.
What is it about orange cats?
They seem to be notoriously cranky and mean.
UPDATE PHOTO (Feb 2005): Since I
submitted Squiggy for the site, he has mellowed ever so slightly
but is still pretty mean. Since he thinks he's a tomcat
(he's not) he still fights and recently got into a scrap that
left him with two abscesses on his head. One burst on its own,
which left a trail of pus down his face, and the other needed
veterinary attention. The second left him with a draining tube
(that looks like a chopstick stuck in his head) and stitches,
oh, and one slanted eye. Now I tell people he's half Siamese.
UPDATE 2007: Squiggy is almost 18
years old (not sure if my math was correct before). While some
of the spitfire has faded, he will always be our Meankitty.
It's taken 16+ years, but he has finally mellowed enough to
sit on our laps (yes!) and let me trim his toenails. Not to say
he doesn't still have some wrath left. He still swipes at the
dog and scraps occasionally with his little sister, ZuZu.
Squig's fur is pretty matted these days, as he has hardly any
teeth to groom himself. I TRY to clip out the mats, but it's a
very dangerous endeavor.
He's not much interested in going outdoors anymore, and he
hasn't brought home a furry dead creature in a long time, but he
still has three good, sharp fangs and isn't afraid to use them
if necessary. Even more deadly is his raspy tongue and his
horrible, horrible breath. I think he could kill a mouse by just
breathing on it.
The biting (of his human slaves) has been replaced by endless
licking from his rasp tongue. After about 5 seconds you're
begging for mercy, but since he thinks he's being nice, you have
to let him do it until you just can't bear the pain any longer.
