E is for Each One is Different

E is for Each One is Different--Especially Samantha and Teddy

On Monday, I wrote about our first cat, Samantha. Mike H. said that I should write about another cat we had, Teddy. So here it goes.

Teddy

After about a year, we were enjoying Samantha so much, we decided to add another kitty to the mix. One of Ward's friends had an abandoned group of kittens living under his house that needed homes. There were five wild kittens--meaning they would run away anytime you got near them. We put out a saucer of food and they all darted out and started to eat. As we approached, they all darted back under the house, except one yellow and white kitten. It looked at us worriedly but kept eating. We scooped it up and took it home.

We were well "experienced" cat owners at this point and decided that the kitten we had captured was male. We named it Teddy after another cat I knew who was named after Teddy Roosevelt. It turns out that the kitten was actually a female, so instead of Theodore, she became Theodosa, or Teddy for short.

Well, our sweet Samantha, freaked out when we brought Teddy into her territory. Samantha hissed, growled, and swatted at Teddy anytime she got close. Other times, Samantha just hid behind the curtains. This was the beginning, middle, and end of the relationship between Teddy and Samantha that would last the next 13 years. Teddy took it all in stride and learned not to challenge Samantha, but Samantha never stopped hissing at the "intruder".

Despite the less than cuddly relationship between the two cats, they were still very entertaining. And each one was different. Samantha was high-strung and very smart. Teddy was laid-back and had street smarts--but not so much in the pure intelligence kind.

Samantha hissing at Teddy.
(The picture has faded over the years.)

We saw these differences in various ways. Both cats drank from the a drip in the bathtub. Samantha  would stretch up and drink from the end of the faucet. However, Teddy would drink from the small puddle under it. She would drink away until one of the drips fell on her head. Then she'd look up and wonder where it came from. She never figured this out.

Other times, if we left a glass out with a little water in the bottom, Samantha would gently tip it over with her paw, and drink the water that spilled out. Teddy got her head stuck in the glass more than once trying to reach what was in the bottom.

In other circumstances, Teddy seemed like the "smart" one. If another cat or dog came into the house, Teddy was right out front, defending things with a growl and a swat, but Samantha would hide behind a curtain. (This always surprised us because she was so aggressive to Teddy.) Sometimes, Teddy would hide  behind something, then swat Samantha on the behind as she walked by.  Teddy would always be gone before Samantha could turn around to get her.

This is already too long, or I would tell you more. Maybe another time. However, I will say that we've had four more cats since then, each with their own unique personalities, but none of them have ever been as different as Samantha and Teddy.