Amber VERY Bad Cat

I read an interesting article awhile ago called "Your Bi-Lingual Kitty." It says that your cat has a language she uses to speak to other cats made up of scents and body language, she learns another language to talk to humans made up of meows. I know this is true because when we first got Rbi, she made the cutest mrr-attt sounds. We encouraged her; whenever she made that sound, we talked to her. I can find her anywhere now by saying "Mrrr-at-at-at." She can't help herself, she mrr-atts back!

On the Amber-side, she does not talk to us, she never has. I always figured it was half that she was an Abysinian (they are very quiet cats) and half she didn't want Malarky to find her, so she kept quiet. She uses mind control, preferring to stare at us, transmitting her desires telepathically. Today, I have had to revise my thoughts. Today I learned she doesn't want to talk to us...

Amber has had stomach "issues" for awhile now. We figured it was furballs but she wasn't vomiting any fur. Then I decided it was fleas and dosed her with flea meds. That helped for a few days. Friday night she barfed more than I have ever seen any cat barf anywhere! We cleaned for an hour. I called the vet and got an appointment for her on Sunday.

Sunday morning I got out the fancy wicker carrying case, and watched her run away from me, down the hall. After I set the case on the dining room table, I reached for the new foil envelope of her favorite treats and tore open the package. Up she popped from under the sofa, elbowed Rbi out of the way, and practically tackled me for the treats. I grabbed her, threw a treat into the case, and stuffed her in after it. So far so good...

I carried her out to the car, and put her in the front seat. Rbi, who was going along for a checkup, was in a cardboard box carrier on the floor. The second I put the wicker carrier in the car, Amber started to howl. In all the years Amber has lived with us, I have never heard a sound this loud come out of her. This scared Rbi who joined in. Now Rbi is the brave one, so when Amber heard her howling, Amber panicked and the noise became so loud I thought the neighbors would call the ASPCA!

Apparently Amber can speak as loudly as she wants.

I got them calmed down, although I did have to drive with my hand in Amber's case, scratching her head the whole way. Amber started voicing her displeasure when we got inside the vets. Where is a large snuffling dog when you need one to keep the cat quiet?

Rbi the brave, Rbi the terror of the backyard, is also Rbi the timid on the vet's table. The doctor was able to check her out, whisk her off to be weighed, and given a mani/pedi with no problems. Amber, on the other hand, became Amber VERY Bad Cat. To get her out of the wicker case, the doctor had to hold it upside down and shake, while I pulled. Amber was hanging on to the wicker with her back toes.

Once she was out on the table, she hunkered down, gave me a dirty look, and growled at the doctor. The doctor wrapped her in a kitty burrito, cat wrapped in a towel, and took her off to be weighed, mani/pedi-ed, and a blood panel drawn. I thought I heard her, Amber not the doctor, faintly in the distance, but decided that horrible noise couldn't be my sweet kitty.

After a rather long time, the doctor and Amber returned. Let me rephrase that. The doctor and Amber, totally swaddled in a towel and being held in a head lock by a pissed off but very strong looking young male technician returned. Those terrible noised came from Amber. The doctor had her put in her case, desiring no further interaction with my furry friend.

The article points out that kitties learn what meows communicate positively with humans and which get negative results. Amber is very good at displaying her displeasure...