An update:
Oh about shedding--that's a benefit of some of the mix breed cats which have Norwegian Forest Cat in them--they heavily shed for a couple weeks 1 or 2 times a year but generally keep their fur. This girl doesn't shed at the moment so we're thinking she inherited that wonderful gene. Only one of our last 4 cats has had that feature--it's nice to see it again! I have a favorite black sweater I'm wearing a lot right now and it doesn't get any of her fur on it. Yet, when I visit a friend's boat and cat, I get covered in the short hair of that little shedder. It did take us the past 2 years to get all the fur of our previous cat out of the cracks and crevices. He was a shedder!
Beryl has been with us just a few days now but we've discovered a number of ways that she special. All very cute. Some a bit concerning for us.
First--she's really quite the graceful climber when she wants to be. I carefully blocked off the forecastle (it has no door at present and is full of dive gear, spare fenders, oars, paddles and bosun supplies, spare anchors, plus the anchor locker full of chain) with a couple bins and a large sheet of Styrofoam insulation to within 8" of the overhead. She managed to jump from a nearby bed up and over with no problem. Teetered at the top while surveying the scene on the other side for just a split second. Amazingly graceful. On the other side, she explored every inch of the junk stored there including climbing into the anchor locker with the chain. To get back, she climbed up a pile of oars and fenders to achieve the same sort of graceful jump. Needless to say, we'll be constructing that door to the forecastle sooner rather than later.
Then there's play. All our recent kitties died old. They didn't really play much in the last few years of life. We've forgotten what cat play is really like. This cat is almost two and she really likes to play. All feather toys must be killed repeatedly several times a day. She has a memory for the few toys she has and she'll find them even if I hide them away. If I put a toy in a cabinet or drawer (while she's in another room) she'll still manage to figure its location out (perhaps they smell like catnip though that wasn't advertised on them...) and head butt the cabinet, hit at it, make funny little chirp-y meows and generally let it be known that there's something in there which she wants--until she gets us to retrieve the toy. After the toys are found, she drags them out and kills them yet again--and then presents them to me as a gift, one-by-one. Even at 2 am. Especially at 2 am. After all, if you're a cat, that's the best time to present dead feather toys to your human--right?
She's very calm, gentle, and laid back in her interactions with us--wants to sit smashed up against hubby's leg (with her paws around his thigh to be as close as possible w/o sitting in the lap) and wants to sit in my lap and purr. Seems calm with a halter, thinks the kitty life vest is a bit heavy but I can see she'll deal with it--so we're hopeful that we'll be taking her for dingy rides soon to get used to that experience as well.
She enjoys hubby's clarinet playing. Prefers the light classical over the jazz or show tunes he's played for her listening pleasure. She doesn't mind the stereo playing. Sits to watch a DVD with us though she doesn't like loud or unexpected noises so the shoot-em-ups aren't as much fun as the silly romances are for her.
An indoor kitty she is planned to remain--this works as she doesn't like the outdoors right now--when we open up the companionway door to go in and out, she immediately retreats to the depths of the boat. Doesn't like the blast of cold wind we think. That works for us, though.
Fair winds,
Meet Our New Ship's Cat!
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