I’m not normally the type to talk about my cats super-extensively on here. My posts about Mooch’s euthanization this last summer don’t count — that was a pretty tough time and she was (and still is) family. But, being hard-up for topics other than cycling stuff, I decided I’d go through and write a short intro for each of our cats.
This is Scout, and of our four, he’s my favorite. He’s a mutt — half Siamese, half tabby, with the mouthy attitude of the former, and the brains of, well, not a tabby.
After my divorce, I was hunting around for a companion for Mooch, as her long-time buddy, Pixel, was in my ex-wife’s custody.1 I happened upon Scout’s picture on Petfinder.com (featured below) and became a big pile of mush. I met him, and he seemed pretty cool, so I decided to bring him home.
And this is where I had my first real lesson on the difference between shelter personality and home personality. It’s not something that’s true of all cats, but some will do a 180 on personality when they get home. Scout was one of those.
Right out of the gate, he was attacking Mooch, attacking me, and attacking every human that came through the door. There was a lot of swearing, a lot of bleeding, and times when I’d lock him in the bathroom for an hour or two just so that Mooch and I could have a break from “the little fucker,” as I’d taken to calling him.
A year into it and Scout became very shy and withdrawn. I’m not sure what the exact trigger is, but it tied to having a small group of people over for a TV event. Scout was very unhappy about the presence of new people and hid under the bed for three days.
Since then, he’s started developing into a pretty good-natured guy. It’s taken some time, though. He’s still not comfortable with new men around, but new women are okay in his book. He sleeps on Kate’s head at night and finds the time to come around and get picked up and held while I’m on the computer.
Of our four, he’s my favorite. He’s a little weird, very talkative, and a fun guy to have around.
Nicknames: Scoutwell, Magoo (he’s pretty cross-eyed), Goober, Magoober (a combination of the previous two, duh), Sprout, Baby Boy, the Beige Bomber.
Age: 5.
1. And remains there to this day. I’m not at all bitter about it — Pixel is nuts about Carolyn, and vice versa.
I’m not normally the type to talk about my cats super-extensively on here.
Much to my chagrin. More cat posts, please! I mean, I’m not trying to turn your site into Cute Overload or anything…. okay, yes, I am.
Well, I’ll be writing intros for the other three. Happy’s is already done and scheduled for publication tomorrow.
He’s so adorable. More cat posts. The world needs more cat posts.
Got the rest of the series scheduled. One coming in about 25 minutes, and one on Wednesday.
MEOW!!! : D
That’s a great picture of Scout.
The first one? That was blind luck. 🙂
So, this line:
” I happened upon Scout’s picture on Petfinder.com (featured below) and became a big pile of mush”
made me lose a big chunk of respect for you because I mean come on, it’s just a picture of a cat, man up dude.
And then I scrolled down, and was killed dead. I’m so sorry that I ever doubted you.
Yeah, at first read it does sound pretty spineless. But that picture is Kryptonite. Absolute. Fucking. Kryptonite.
I’m pretty sure that picture is illegal in several states.
I just was reading this and Scout looks exactly like my Lucky Jack, who was saved by the son of a friend of mine after being thrown out of a moving car into a forest. He is my favorite, too, and also has some nuttiness in him. He hates all women but me, and has attacked many of them.
He hates change and freaks out when he sees the suitcases coming out.
He is a dangerous supergenius.
We adore him. (and a friend told me he is not a Siamese/Tabby mix, but probably a Tonkinese, and he is just like the breed description).