Some things about Willowpede

I can see something moving in there - it's making the music!
She 'clowns' for me when she really likes something,
but I don't often catch it in pictures!

I did Sally's list a while back, and have had Willow's on-hold, tucked away in a notebook.

• Her full name is Willowpede. The name came from a dream ala Alice in Wonderland.

  What in the world is a willowpede? I don't know - but it's definitely not an old fashioned chiropracter in Paris, TN.

• Willow and Sally (and four others) were born near May 15th, 2005 at the office, to a wonderful cat named Newt. They travelled back and forth with us to work for over a year, until the unfinished building was done, and big dogs who moved in made them nervous.

• Willow's nicknames are Willow, Willowpedal(like bipedal), WikiWillow (wikiwiki means quickly), Cotton Paws and Greta Garbo.
  

• I knew I wanted this kitten from the very first time I saw her. She was less than three weeks old then, with her eyes just open. Their mom had moved them to a dangerous place in our boss' water heater closet and we moved them back out to her bed in the hallway. She looked like a little striped grey tiger with big blue eyes.
  

• She has a beautiful striped and speckled belly, as well as large patches of orange tabby mixed with her blue-grey striped tabby and white patches. I've heard a few people call her a 'diluted calico.'
  

• Willow doesn't like strangers. She's getting better with some people, but usually she hides wherever she can just to get away from someone new. Places she has hidden that take the cake are in the cupboard with the dishes, in the rafters, and out the back door and into the neighbor's garage.
  

• Willow covets hairties found in the bathroom or laundry room. She stores them with her toys.
  

• She will wake me up with her high pitched voice in my ear if her food dish is empty at daybreak.
  

• Willow weighs 12 lbs (right now).
  UPDATE: November 2006, Willow weighs 9 lbs, how did that happen?
  

• She is a bit lazier than Sally - and likes her alone time as much as, at other times, she demands our attention. (thus, Greta Garbo)
  

• Willow will eat dry food, cat treats, most 'meat' things and strangely, banana.
  

• She sings for her supper (tuna). I give it to them once a week and she sings loudly as soon as I show her the flat can and say 'Tu-na.'
  

• I can call her to me with 'Willow-willow-willow' OR 'Sally Mandarin'
  

• Willow thinks 'Sally Mandarin' is the plural of 'cat' - but she doesn't come if I just call 'Sally.'
  

• Willow does a very good 'I'm worried' look at me whenever she hears people next door, at our door - or other strange noises. She'll come over to me then and ask me to do something about it. Poor girl :o(
  

• She hates thunderboomers - but not lightning.
  

• When we first got her, Willow's favourite toy was Mr.J's shoes.
  

• Willow came home with us first, a full week before we knew we would also be taking Sally home with us.
  

• She will attack Mr.J's belt hissing with full ears-back and back arched if it is rolled up into a coil. She swears its a snake and cries as we get near it to show her it isn't.
  

• She has a bad habit of licking the inside of the shower curtain liner.
  

• If I leave my wool coat out in the winter, you'll find Willow sleeping there.
  

• Willow's all-time favourite game is 'grasshopper.' (a string with a weight on the end of it)
  

• Willow will bring her grasshopper toy, and only that toy, to me from other rooms. She will lay it down on the floor and sing loudly.
  

• Willow has a high-pitched soprano voice compared to Sally's Siamese 'mrao.'
  

• She loves to get into containers and get things out. Her other favourite game is for me to put the grasshopper toy in a box or otherwise hidden, with just the tail sticking out. Then she gets all excited, shakes her entire back end and soon is up there trying to pull it out. If she's really happy with herself, she'll bring it back to me to show me she got it.
  

• She makes 'bird-chirpy' noises when she wants to know what something is or how to get to it. She does this when I put things in and take them out of containers, as well as at the birds and squirrels outside the window.
  

• She has huge 'webbed' feet.
  

• Willow loves to listen to my music box - although this is recent she begs me to turn it on so she can stick her nose in the hole and watch the mechanism turn while it plays.
  

• She also has to run into the room to watch every time we open the DVD player to put in or take out a disc. If she is close enough to us when we open it, she tries to get her paw in before it shuts again. Cute but dangerous habit!
  

• ADDED LATER-- I almost forgot one - Willow doesn't like it when people sneeze. No kidding. She cries as if I'm telling her 'No' or yelling at her (which I rarely do). If the sneezing fit continues, she'll find a place to hide until it's over. Silly kitty!
  

• She absolutely loves being held up to attack the cords on the ceiling fan. She'll sit underneath it and cry when she wants someone to hold her up.
  

• She loves to be scratched right in the middle of her forehead and behind her ears. She will literally fall over if you hit just the right spot.
  

• Our boss said she was a 'tailed Manx.' Sally and Willow had the same Mommy cat, Newt, but they might have had different fathers. A neighbor at the office had a full-blooded male Manx, so it's likely. Mouse at the office is also a kitten of Newt. Mouse looks a lot like Willow but is tail-less.