A Certain Himalayan Cat

 

I remember the day I met my friend, a pure-bred Himalayan cat. A Himalayan is a cross between a Siamese and a Persian. Himalayans have the Siamese’s color points and the Persian’s fluffy, double layered coat. And this cat had the best of both worlds! This cat’s mother and father were both Himalayans. We got her when she was 5 months old.  Well, actually it started the day before. I remember I went to a shelter in Connecticut to find a cat, and my mom and I found an adorable little kitten.  Mom said that if we got it, we would have to declaw it, and the shelter did not allow declawing. I was upset so mom took me to New York to Pets On Lex, a pet store to look at some cats.  We found her there.  I begged mom to possess the creature, but she said ‘no’.  The next day, my dad wanted to go to New York for lunch. He suggested we go to the pet store to get a cat next. Mom finally said yes! I was so happy.  I had to choose between a cute little Persian and the magnificent white kitten I saw there. We named her Snowball in the car. Mom said that I could give her whatever name I want. I looked at her little white face, and decided Snowball!  And Snowball it was! We had already gotten everything prepared, so we put her in her carrier and took her home.  She was meowing the whole way home, I felt bad.  Then, she threw up in her carrier, which made things worse… .

We visited the vet for the first time with her, and we asked if we should declaw her.  The vet said he wouldn’t recommend it, so in the end we didn’t. Although she has scratched us a couple hundred times, she’s never scratched the furniture, and that’s all that matters to mom.  She mostly kicks and bites though.  I remember when I was holding her next to the window on a stormy night, which was the worst mistake of my life, and lightning struck, apparently Snowball is scared of lightning, so she bit my hand!  It really hurt.  She also kicks when we brush her.  Her toenails are the longest because it’s really hard to cut them.  When we try, she always tries to kill us.  Snowball only sometimes is aggressive, but she normally is very calm.

Snowball is also very picky.  As I said, we had already prepared for Snowball.  We had a litter box, a scratching post, toys, and food from the pet store.  Apparently Snowball didn’t like the litter we got her.  Instead of pooping in the litter box like she was supposed to, she decided to do her business in an unused bathtub!  We didn’t find out until a few weeks later.  When we found out we immediately switched the litter.  We tried probably ten different litter brands; we found out Snowball likes the clay the best (which she still uses now!) and she hates scented litter.

When we brought Snowball home it was dinnertime.  Mom made chicken for dinner, and chicken as we now know, is Snowball’s favorite.  When dinner was done we sat at the table.  At the table there are four chairs, and we only have three people.  Snowball decided that she wanted to join us so she hopped up onto the chair no one was using.  Mom got her a plate and we gave her some chicken, she loved it!  So now every time we have dinner she comes up onto her favorite chair (which is right next to mine) and eats dinner with us.  Snowball’s just like another family member! Sometimes when we are preparing Snowball’s food, she gets anxious and can’t wait so she stands up and put her two paws on the table.

Snowball is also very friendly with people who come over.  Every time one of my parent’s friends come over, Snowball’s always at the door to greet them!  Snowball follows them everywhere and behaves very well.  Snowball loves people.  She also likes other animals too.  My babysitter has a dog-named Penny, an eleven-year-old Shi Tzu.  Penny is very calm, and so is Snowball so they get along very well.  When Snowball first encountered Penny, she was frightened.  Snowball hissed and batted her paw at Penny, but after a week, they became best friends.  Snowball loves Penny, but Penny sometimes gets annoyed at her.  Once in a while, Snowball will pull Penny’s tail and run away, and Penny will look for where Snowball went. Now, Penny’s just used to it.

I remember when we first brought Snowball home and we took her outside.  That was her first time being outside, Snowball loved it!   We didn’t have a leash, so Snowball just roamed around freely, staying close to us because she knew she could trust us.  Now mom is always afraid Snowball will run away, so we have to use a leash!  We trained Snowball to go outside, so now she knows what to do when she’s outside.  Usually our cat just sniffs the flowers and roams around with her leash.  Once in a while she’ll catch a bug.  If there are any bugs inside, she will not leave the poor thing alone until it’s dead.  Snowball has killed bees, ants, stinkbugs, wasps, and so much more.  Snowball doesn’t catch rats though – we don’t let her in the basement, and that’s the only place in the house where there aren’t any bugs.  I wonder if Snowball would catch a rat if she saw one, well we’ll never know unless we let her in the basement.

Snowball now sleeps in my bed every night.  When we first got her, we put her in her room, but she’s very well behaved so mom let her roam freely at night.  I open my door a crack so Snowball can sleep with me if she wants to.  Sometimes she wants someone to play with, so she meows in the middle of the night.   It annoys mom, so mom lets her into her room.  Snowball sometimes brings her tin foil ball upstairs and meows with the ball in her mouth to tell us she wants to play.  She also meows when she’s hungry or needs to go to the bathroom.

In the morning Snowball always comes into my room and purrs so loud that I wake up.  It’s now her habit.  Snowball is so cute, especially in the morning, and she is so calm and gentle, which is one of my favorite things about her.  Snowball loves everyone, and gets along with other pets too (such as Penny!)  Snowball is the best cat I could ever ask for!