The Littlest Greyhound
by Susan Scheide
Anyone who has ever owned a Siamese cat knows that they are very sociable cats, and appreciate the company of their humans, and if they can’t have that, another cat.
I had two beautiful male Siamese cats, both obtained from a breeder in Idaho. Magic Shoes was six, and Tiger Woods was three. One hot summer afternoon, Magic made a strange noise, staggered into view, and fell over. He was dead. The vet surmises that he had a massive heart attack or something else resulting from a congenital defect. I was devastated, and so was his companion Tiger Woods. The breeder offered me another cat, but I really did want another cat from the same cattery at that point.
I decided I wanted to adopt an adult—a retired show cat. I wanted an Oriental Shorthair because my friend Lucy had one, and he was both stunning to look at and he sounded charming. The Oriental Shorthair is similar in personality to a Siamese, but very different in appearance.
I contacted the breeder Lucy used. The breeder had a gorgeous adult male, but she wasn’t willing to let me have him because of my dog, a retired racing Greyhound named George. She didn’t think he could adapt to living with a dog. And then she sent me this picture:
She called him Scuba (a ridiculous name). He was not yet ready to go to a home, but was not going to make it as a show cat, and she was willing to sell him to me. How could I resist that face?
Once he was neutered and cleared by her vet, he flew from Pennsylvania to Boston, and I picked him up at Logan airport. He was even cuter in person!
Here he is, just a few minutes out of his travel crate—and yes, he is digging his nails into my shoulder, and yes, it did hurt!
My routine when getting a new cat is to use the dog crate for a few days to house the cat, litter box, bed, food, and water. This enables the resident cats to check out the newcomer, the newcomer to acclimate, and the dog to observe and be observed by the new cat.
Scuba was immediately renamed Mister Bigglesworth. He had never even SEEN a dog. Those with both dogs and cats know that the images we see in cartoons of cats and dogs hating each other are largely myth, and MOST cats and MOST dogs can at least learn to get along. And yes, a Greyhound is often just fine with cats.
Adult cats, on the other hand, often don’t take kindly to new cats entering their territory. My two adult cats were not happy with the new addition, and much hissing and spitting was directed his way. So I put the dog crate in my bedroom, and closed them out so he would have time to settle in.
It’s important with a new kitten to make sure they are both eating and drinking, as well as eliminating. When a cat is shipped, it’s obviously more traumatic than being picked up and driven home sitting in someone’s lap, so it’s extra important to monitor them closely for 24 hours. The crate set up helps with this too. I learned the hard way when I got Magic Shoes and he immediately hid under my bed, not to be seen again for two days!
So little Mister Bigglesworth hung out in his BIG dog crate, and impressed all of us with his voice!
George (formerly known at Raynham Park as Driven by Chile) showed no signs of wanting to bother the kitten, so I let the little fellow out in the bedroom with George. This is the first meeting the little guy ever had with any dog:
The front end seemed OK, so a little later he did this:
He was getting NO love from the other cats, and the dog seemed to be a pretty nice guy. So that’s how he turned into The Littlest Greyhound!
He is very tightly bonded to George. He is rarely more than a few feet from him. Whether George wants him there or not!
Here are some of the pictures that should help dispel the many myths about cats and Greyhounds.
Can you even see him? George had allergies that summer. The cat doesn’t even move throughout the vigorous scratching session!
I call this one “living dangerously.” Anyone with any sort of dog understands why this position could be, uhm, well, a bad idea!
This picture needs no words:
And my all time favorite:
Mister Bigglesworth is nearly 6 years old now. He is as silly as ever, and as attached to “his” dog as ever. “Never a dull moment” describes life with him.
This one really cracks me up. You can’t usually get cats in their crates when you need to, but this is what I found one morning when I was prepping to move—and yes, they’re each in their proper crate of their own accord!
When I had a hip replacement this past summer, my mother took my dog home with her for a month. Then Tiger Woods passed away, and it was just Mister B. and me at home. He stuck to me like glue, and I realized what a sweet guy he is, and just how important companionship and contact are to him. The Oriental Shorthair is not a breed for everyone. They are not a cat happy to live alone all day and all night while you work and play. But for the right home, they are fantastic pets, and a lot of fun.
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Susan Scheide also shared her story of adopting a senior cat, in Taking a Chance on Ming.
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thanks for sharing your story – Mr B is a little cutie! we have a chocolate tabby Oriental and he’s the best value for money we ever had. Even people who hate cats are attracted to him. He’s very loving (on his terms) and interactive. You can have an actual conversation with him, if you could only understand miaow!