Cathie with our Beloved Chocolate Kitty... other Chocie pictures
Chocolate was adopted in the Spring of 1997. She was a little tiny siamese kitten with distinct Seal Point colorings. She was welcomed to the family with some hesitation by our 12 year old Tabby cat, named Orange Kitty (Orangie). Being a playful little kitten, Chocie, would attack and chase Orangie. Orangie had been a mopping around the house since her sister Black Kitty died.
For a long time Chocie would sneak up behind Orangie and then bite him on the hind ankle and then lay down on her back submissively. She knew Orangie was much bigger so she would call uncle right away.
Chocie started out with a very light gray coat and a chocolate brown nose. As she grew (upto 9 lbs), her coloring changed to a more uniform chocolate color with her distinctive eyes getting bluer and bluer.
When Chocie was still a kitten, we had a sparrow and a kestrel get in our house. It probably flew down the fireplace. I came home at lunch to see this first hand. I saw the Kestral flying around in the house. Herded the cats to the basement, and I opened the windows. The Kestrel flew away. Then I let the cats out and then a sparrow, obviously hiding out of site of the Kestrel started flying around. It ran into a window and knocked itself out... flat on its back on the ground. Chocie ran over to it, picked it up in its mouth and with pride started walking around with it in its mouth. I got the lifeless bird out of Chocie's mouth and using a newspaper picked it up and tossed it out the open window in the living room. Much to my surprise, the sparrow started flying and got away... healthy enough to fly. Chocie has always been more of a hunter than Orangie; he didn't really know what to do with game.
Chocie had a bad habbit of bitting paper. If I printed some photos and left them on the counter top, the next morning they would have little teeth marks in them. When I printed something on the upstairs computer, she would come running, jump up on the printer and attack the paper as it printed out... usually wrecking the print-out. This amuzed us more than it annoyed us. She had a funny personality.
Chocie was always a pickie eater. She had to take anti itch food, specially formulated for Siamese cats. Chocie sometimes was very nervious (nerotic!); she would get scared of her tail, biting it or sometimes running away from it. Sometimes the easiest way to settle her down was to put her on your lap and cover her with a blanket.
Chocloate has always been a very cuddly kitty. Whenever you sit down, she will quickly run over to you and sit on your lap. Be careful, though because sudden noises would scare her and you might get scratched by her sharp hind claws. Chocie would sleep with us and night in the King size bed. She loved to burrow herself under the covers. Some mornings I would wake up with half her body under my back or leg. She was a little be squished, but very happy. Something she never really grew out of was biting ankles. When Cathie would walk up the stairs Chocie, who sometimes begs us to go to bed at night, Chocie would bite Cathie going up the stairs. Cathie would sometimes have to nudge Chocie up the stairs first... a real trouble maker!
Chocie loved being held. You could pick her up and walk around with her all day. She rarely tried to skurm away. Sometimes I would be bending over a cabinet getting something and Chocie would jump up on my shoulders. Sometimes she would do that while I was shaving. Very cute; very sharp claws!
Before we got Chocie, we were warned that Siamese cats were very vocal. That's very true with Chocie. When she was a kitten, she had a sweat sounding "Mew-mew" voice. When ever we came home, she would meet us at the door and say Mew-Mew to us. As she got older, her voice changed to a more gravely sounding squak. If she was sitting nicely on the couch and you walked up to her she would talk to you. If she was under the covers in the bed and you were about to sit on her, she would talk. One issue we had was if we closed-shut our bedroom door at night, her talking was so loud that we couldn't sleep. She wanted our company and she wanted our warmth. She learned how laptops worked. If one of us had a laptop on our lap, she would jump up on our laps and nuzzle her way to the side of the laptop, picking up the heat from the electronics.
Speaking of warmth, it wasn't clear which season of the year she liked the most. During Winter, when the furance was going, she would go down to the basement and jump up on the furnace. She would get really warm and toasty. We always kept a chair by the furnace to make it easier for her to jump up and down. When she got sick, her instincts drew her back to her spot on the furnace, but we really couldn't let her alone, so we setup a heating pad for her... which she really loved!
After Orangie passed away, we adopted Neko. Neko was a long haired caleco cat. Chocie was annoyed. Chocie would beat up Neko, but Neko wanted to play and kept coming back for more. After awhile, Neko grew larger than Chocie, and Chocie learned to run away. Neko was really roudy and Chocie wanted "the over grouwn rat" to leave her alone. It took awhile, but Chocie soon learned that Neko's big fluffy fur was really warm, and Chocie would jump up onto Neko and curl up into a nest besides Neko. Neko was annoyed but was usually too sleepy to move. Over the years, it became very common for Chocie and Neko to curl up next to each other. Further, it became a middle of the night activity for the two cats to chase themselves around the house. From bed, it sounded like hoofbeats from herd animals running through the house. During the day, Chocolate would sleep in the kids bedrooms. If you came home for lunch or mid afternoon you would find Chocie in Mike or Liz's bed. You never really knew where except you learned to test the covers before you sat down... else you might squish the kitty.
Everything bothered Chocie. The slightest noise, reflecting lights, noises from the Tv, ETC. She would hear a loud noise and her ears would pull back and her eyes would bug out.
One year we went to Florida for vacation and came back and could not find Chocolate anywhere. We thought she was lost. We then found her in the corner of the garage hiding in fear. We got her inside and calmed her down. From then on, when ever the door to the garage opened up, she would dash to the door and try to get out. Instead of being afraid of the garage, she wanted to go back out!
Because of the trama of being left alone for vacations (especially with Neko 8-) ), we had Chocolate and Neko spend a week at my Mom and Dad's. Chocie was always really good with my Mom, sitting on her lap nicely and sleeping in her bed. My Mom knew about Siamese cats and Chocie was very well behaved compared to some cats she knew from her childhood.
As pet names, we called Chocolate various names: Chocie, Chocolatte', Chocerlatte', Choccers, Mew-mew, Shoulder Kitty,