How Glory Came to Live with Us

Finding our first purebred cat was an interesting experience, and much more pleasant than, say, buying a car.

For some yet unidentified reasons, we decided we wanted a wild-looking domestic cat. We used the Internet, library, Cat Fancy magazine, and a couple of local cat shows to help in our research. We wanted to meet our prospective cat in person, so buying out of state (when the cat would be air shipped) was not considered. We eventually focused on the Bengal breed, so finding, contacting and visiting local Bengal catteries became our top priority. Way more important than what was for dinner, for instance.

We went to a couple of cat shows and spoke to various breeders and collected business cards. Soon after we started calling or sending email inquiries to a number of local breeders. Not all returned our calls or email inquiries (for more information see our article Buying a Cat from a Cattery).

We spoke with one breeder who was very kind and informative, telling us about the breed, possible health issues, what to look for in a healthy cattery, and general pricing. Unfortunately, she had no Bengals for sale and would not for several months. Taking her advice, we contacted another breeder in our area. As luck would have it, this breeder did have a 5-year-old recently retired queen for sale as a pet. The breeder had decided that at five years (the human equivalent of 40+), Glory was too old to be safely having kittens. She was not cat show "quality" having a whippy (thin) tail and lacking pure black paw pads. We made an appointment to visit the cattery.

We packed the necessities (cat carrier with carpet pad, Feliway and money). First, we visited the cattery, which was located in a renovated barn, nicely set up with almost anything a cat could want. All the cats looked healthy and alert. Only the newest kittens were out of bounds, as they had not yet had all their shots. Then, we entered the house and saw Glory.

For the four of us, it was love at first sight. A gorgeous golden brown marble cat stalked elegantly through the house. Glory, however, was not so sure. We had been talking with the breeder since the moment we arrived, asking many questions. The boys used a glitzy feather toy to play with Glory. We petted, stroked, and tried to hold her. I finally started using my animal communication skills and talked to Glory telling her about our family and home. I talked about what we had to offer if she came to live with us. I also spoke with our other cats about Glory.

Talking with her I learned that being a mother, bearing and properly raising kittens was very important to Glory. It had been the primary focus of her adult life thus far. Glory did not yet understand that a few months earlier she had surgery to prevent her from conceiving again. Glory eventually agreed to join our family. We paid the breeder and she signed Glory's TICA registration over to us, gave us her pedigree and medical history papers and Glory officially joined our family.

After the obligatory vet visit, we began to set up her domain. We built carpeted ramps to our bookcases, hidey holes, climbing and scratching posts. I noticed that Glory had some trouble jumping. Her back muscles were very tight. I massaged her back for about two weeks and this helped her movements tremendously. The vet suggested it was due to her carrying many litters.

For a time, she sang to the stray tom cat outside who crooned for her attentions. It would take several months for Glory to come to grips with the fact that she was not going to breed again.

She has become a pampered pet who sleeps on our bed. Glory sings us awake -- OK, our idea of what constitutes a proper wakeup time can differ from hers -- so we negotiate and discuss how much sunlight there should be before she starts singing. And I have to have a pad and pen ready to write down her more notable songs and wisdom. We share some of these with you in Glory's Songs. Glory enjoys basking in the sun, chasing greeblings at high speed (the creatures only cats can see), and gives us advice on becoming better parents and living life with enjoyment.

Glory has taught us cat style meditation, that standing your ground is very important, and better patience and understanding with our own kittens (I mean, of course, our sons).