Like Mother, Like Daughter?

Anna Marie

Betty Sue

Like mother, like daughter – so says the old proverb.  But when we first met Anna Marie and her daughter Betty Sue, nothing could be further from the truth.  Oh, yes, those beautiful emerald green eyes were the same.  No doubting the genetics there.  And perhaps the interesting facial markings – Anna Marie’s ‘lipstick’ and Betty Sue’s freckled nose. But you couldn’t find two more different personalities.

Anna Marie was a tiny little girl who seemed even tinier because she had lost half of her fur to a flea bite allergy.  She came right to the front of the cage and begged for attention.  She loved to play with a wand toy and would run and jump as long as you waved a toy around.  If you sat with her, she would walk right into your lap.  She loved being petted and having her tummy gently scratched.

Betty Sue was a pleasantly  plump.  She hid in the small center litter box compartment of their cage and volunteers had to drag her out to be socialized.  She would let us hold her, in fact wanted to be held close and protected. But if you put her down, she would hide in the corner. She never purred and was afraid of toys.

These girls have been with us for a long time – since early January.  They were pretty sick with upper respiratory virus, but didn’t get a foster, so they spent several weeks in a cage in isolation.  Now, back in the Cat Adoption Center, they are living in a colony room with several other cats.

On my last visit to the colony room, during the hailstorm last week in fact, I walked in the door and lo and behold, here comes Betty Sue to greet me!  She rolled and rolled around the floor, happy as can be, and just loved having her tummy rubbed.  Then she climbed up on some crates in the room and rolled around and flirted some more.  I was finally seeing the real Betty Sue, the real daughter of happy go lucky Anna Marie!

Betty Sue is still not quite sure 100% of the time that her world is okay.  A loud noise, even a laugh, sometimes scares her.  But she has come such a long way over these past three months – and three months is long enough for cats to be in a shelter.  It’s time for these girls to go home.  Obviously we would love to see them go home together.  But they would probably do okay apart, especially Anna Marie.  I think Betty Sue would continue to blossom in a quiet, adults only home with plenty of love even if she were alone.  With her mom by her side, it would be a purrrrfect home.

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