Thursday, February 02, 2006

Glamour =^..^= Glamour

Here is my portrait of the glamorous Tanner also known as “Tannie Man” and “Sweet T”. It was especially difficult to complete this portrait as Tanner was in my lap pawing my face and walking across the keyboards.

It is time to tell the Tanner story:

Once upon a time, I found two very young kittens in a garden hose unattended. Needless to say I scooped them up and took them to the vet where they got a clean bill of health.

My boyfriend at the time became the best Pappa Kat 2 kittens could have. He fed them, bathed them, soothed them when they cried and named them: Black & Tan!

As they grew up, Tannie Man, developed into quite the character. As a little kitten it became very clear that he was the “love bunny” of the 2 kittens. After each meal, of kitten mush, he would look for me and then walk up my chest until he reached my face… where he would rub his messy paws all over me. I expect he thought I was his mom and should clean him up. Which is just what I would do. He would then fall asleep into a wiggly kitten nap, chasing his tail in his dreams I am sure. Baby wipes became a standard item in the house.

(BTW he has just come back and is ready for more attention! Hold on while I hoist him on my lap…)

As he grew up and was big enough to sleep in my bedroom, it became clear that I was going to have to share my pillow. He also had to adjust to the fact that I like to read books in bed and they are not there to be chewed on or pawed at. More on this later…

In the house, of the 2 kittens, Tannie became the alpha male. But as I began to take he and Blackie to the vet for their usual physicals, I noticed that Tannie was very timid. What a surprise! He is the first one to inspect new visitors to the house and the first one to pop a new kitty on the head. He will even run Blackie off of any sleeping spot if he wants to be there. But, to my surprise he is only the alpha male in his own home!

When I call any other kitty, Tannie is the first one that shows up…most of the time I call Blackie when I want Tannie.

Tannie’s favorite food is … any kind of food. His is not picky and usually eats hours after I have served up Fancy Feast or Science Diet dry food. Human food holds no interest to him.

When he was a teenager kitty, Pappa Kat and I created a game called “topple tannie”. We would go to this pizza place where you could win very small stuffed toys in this crane thing. We would bring home these little toys: footballs & balls. Once home, we would chant: “topple tannie, topple tannie”, immediately Tannie would run to the top of his cat tree and we would stand on either side of the tree winging the toys over his head. The cat tree is over 6 feet tall and has a little cupped area on top that Tannie lays in. Today this is his most favorite game. He actually swats at the toys as they sail over or he catches them.

His other favorite toys are feather sticks and tissue paper. Catnip makes him wild-n-crazy. He will wrestle with Blackie when he is hopped up on catnip. His tail gets big and fluffy!

To wrap up… here is our evening ritual. Around 10pm if I am not in bed, Tannie will come looking for me. He will do what ever it takes to get me to go to bed. Whatever it takes… swipes at the metal mini blinds are his last resort…. which usually works like a charm!

Once he sees me heading towards the night time ritual…he watches all the events, that lead to bed: computer turned off, dishwasher is turned on, TV turned off, glass of ice & water prepared, lights turned off, book thrown on bed & lastly teeth brushed ~ mine! Now, all systems are ‘go’ for Tannie. After this…. he races to the foot of the bed. Once I begin reading he proceeds to take a big cat bath and then trots off for a quick dry food snack. After about 10 minutes he leaps on the bed and pads over to me and snuggles next to me. His head on my pillow, front paws draped over the bed, his back to my side ~ he begins to purr!

All is well in the world.

The Whippy Curly Tail's Mom

19 comments:

Ellen said...

Adorable!!

Edsel/The Pooch said...

we can relate. the routines are what makes our lives together so precious.

merlinprincesse said...

Such a nice story!

The Tart said...

My my my! What a cat. I must make sure that my kitty reads this. Great story.

Ivan from WMD said...

What a nice story! I especially like the nighttime ritual. Those are so important for both us and our moms!

And very cool portrait!

Gigolo Kitty said...

Lovely story and lovely picture!Its really lovely the way kitties rush to get into bed with us. I know if I am working to late into the night, I see them line up next to my desk with this really questioning look on their faces.

TheTart said...

Go to bed so "Sweet T" can purr!
Thanks for the wonderful story.

Boni said...

Aw :) It's so neat to hear Tannie's story! Good to meetcha Tannie!

Carolina Cats said...

Tannie, that is the coolest story and you are lucky to have such a good mom bean who understands you!

Hugs & purrs to both of you!

Finnegan & Buddy

Joy Eliz said...

This is the sweetest picture ever. I love the eyes. Holy cow...I have a 'Jeli' that has some of the same habits!
I'll have to post some pictures for Blackie and Tannie to see;)

Big Piney Woods Cats said...

What a wonderful story, what a wonderful Tannie Man!

Shaggy and Scout said...

Tannie what a great story you and your mom shared. Scooby has a nighttime ritual of waiting near the hall and then when everything has been turned off in the kitchen & living room he leads the way down the hall to the bedroom. Not a bedcat though. He'll look out the window for a time, on guard duty, then heads back to the living room to sleep on the couch. ps: how about a lesson on how to tell Tannie from Miss S. They look quite similar!

Anonymous said...

LOVE the picture - you are so talented!! Wish Mom could draw pictures of us. Sheesh. We'd end up looking like stick horsies.

Spock said...

Purrty kitty! That was a good story too. I sure am glad you res-q-ed him!

Victor Tabbycat said...

Lovely story and picture. I'm not snuggly, but we have our routines, too. I *used* to sleep at the foot of the bed, but only in winter. That's before Victor intruded. At 10, if Mom's still at the puter, I stand and run my paws up and down the back of her chair (I'm declawed).

Victor Tabbycat said...

Very pretty pictor. Maybe my boy can draw me sometime. Mom says she's not good at that. I'm the snuggly cat of our house. I specially like going undercover after Dad gets up, before Mom's get-up beeps. When Mom reads, I try to swat the black spots all over the papers - they look like BUGS! But Mom says we don't bite books in this house.

Fat Eric said...

Aw, Tannie sounds like a very snuggly cat. I don't go to bed with my humans but I come and join them in the bed just before it is getting-up time. (I am also very clever and know the difference between weekday and weekend getting up time!) I like to snuggle with my mum but when I get hungry I start licking my dad's hair and I lick and lick and lick until he gets up and feeds me!

Peggy said...

We like sleeping with mom too. Whiskers likes the foot of the bed while I like sleeping curled up next to moms back or beside her head. She keeps our blankies near the computer and tv so we can nap till she is ready for bed. love your blog... dimples and whiskers

Anonymous said...

What a lucky little guy. He is fortunate to have found you. Loved the story. :-)