This is Billie Jo. She is our
miniature black panther - dare
devil kitty. If she were human, she would be an extreme athlete.Like Tia, Billie was also adopted from the Annapolis SPCA. She was adopted in November,
1995, at the tender age of eight weeks. Actually, she picked Bob. The story of her adoption
starts out the same as Tia's -- Bob decided that just one cat in the house was not enough,
therefore, he would get a second cat as a gift for Kathy. So back to the SPCA he went. He was
having a hard time deciding on just one kitten as he walked up and down the cages. All of the
kittens were so cute! However, as he passed one cage in particular, a little black/tortie paw shot
out and tapped him on the shoulder. This kitten wanted to get his attention! She was a tiny
thing, even for eight weeks, weighing in at 1.75 pounds, but she made up for it in spunk. Once
she was out of her cage, she crawled all over Bob, performing every trick in the book to convince
him to take her home with him. Fortunately, she didn't have to work too hard. This tiny little
tortie/siamese mix would become cat number two in the Rude house hold. On his way out of
the
kitten room, he also happened to notice another incredibly cute kitten, who would become cat #
3. However, that story is on Ashley's homepage.
Before coming home and meeting Tia Maria, Billie Jo had to have a vet exam to make sure she
didn't have any diseases or parasites that Tia could pick up. So instead of an exciting ride home
to see her new house, Billie Jo went straight to the vet. Once there, she was declared FIV,
FELUK and flea free, although she did have one of the worst cases of ear mites the vet had ever
seen. The vet also diagnosed her with a heart murmur, which over the next few months would
worry Bob and Kathy considerably, especially when she was spayed. Fortunately, she outgrew
the heart murmur and grew into an incredibly sleek, athletic cat, who is quite proud of the
spectacular leaps and jumps she can make.
You ever have one of those nights when no matter how much you eat you still have the
munchies? Well I had one of those nights not too long ago. Let me explain: Kathy keeps our
kitty treats in a metal canister. (Whiskas Tarter Control - Beef flavor are my favorite) Every
night she opens the canister up and gives each one of us a few of our favorite flavor. (Of course
each cat has to have a different favorite -- Kathy) Well, the other night Kathy gave us our treats
in the usual manner. This time she gave us the treats upstairs in the bedroom and didn't feel like
taking the treats back to the kitchen so she left the canister on the floor next to her bed and went
to sleep..
Later on that night, I woke up with the munchies. I was going to go to the kitchen to get
some food when I realized the treats were right there beside the bed. I thought how considerate
of Kathy to leave the Whiskas right there for my convenience. All I had to do was get the lid off
of the can. Well I went right to work on the lid with my back claws. Apparently, I was making
more noise that I realized, because I inadvertently woke Kathy up. When she saw what I was
doing, she told me to go downstairs and eat my food. She took the canister of treats away from
me. The nerve!!
She put the canister up on the dresser and went back to sleep.
The only problem was by then I really had a taste for those treats, and all that scratching and
kicking, I had worked up even more of an appetite! So I went up on the dresser and knocked the
can down. And started working on the lid again. By the time I had actually gotten the lid off,
Kathy woke up again. When she saw (stepped in) my work, all she could do was shake her head.
She gave me one treat for my work. Imagine all that for one treat! She then put the can back,
only this time she taped the lid on the can. If I wanted more treats, I was surely going to have my
work cut out for me. Unfortunately, the alarm clock went off, meaning Kathy and Bob would
have to get up and get ready for work..
During that next day, that can of treats became an obsession for me. I had to have more. So I
went to work on the tape on the can. Eventually, I got lucky and hooked a claw under the tape
and pulled it loose. After that, popping the lid off the can was a simple manner. I pulled my
favorite treats out of the can. Just to be nice, I got Ashley's favorites out and showed them to her.
We both ate the treats to our hearts content. When Kathy got home that night she wasn't sure if
she should have been mad at me for making a mess or proud of how I figured out to get into the
can!