My daughters unusual calico cat

BlunderWoman

BlunderWoman

Senior Member
My daughter has a cat named 'Damsel' that was from my old cat's litter. When Damsel was a kitten she never took up for herself when her siblings tussled with her. She would just lie there and let them do anything to her without ever trying to defend herself. We used to say she was a 'damsel in distress' which is where she got the name. She let those other kittens lick the fur completely off her ears! We would always have to step in and take her to another room because she just didn't ever defend herself.

As she grew up it really was clear she was never going to. Damsel is a true pacifist. We also call her clueless kitty because she never seems to understand dangers. I used to live in a neighborhood that had a lot of roving pit bull dogs that would be running around after escaping their yards. The other cat would see one & dart up a tree. What did damsel do? Once she ran into the street in front of one and rolled on her back right in front of him. Thankfully that dog had no interest in hurting her. I had to run out there and get her & we decided not to ever let her outside anymore.

My daughter married and has her own place now with Damsel. Damsel self harms. When she is upset she will scratch herself bloody and pull her hair out. She has been to the vet many many times. He did not know if it was an allergy or a mental thing. It IS a mental thing. Certain things upset her and she self harms. If my daughter and her husband are not home much and working 2 days in a row she will make herself bloody. I had to stay there right after I broke my neck & me and the chihuahua were in a bedroom. Knowing the chihuahua was in the back room upset her and she made herself bloody. I had to leave and go to my sons house. She rarely does this anymore, but once in a while she does it still. My daughter had workers over working on plumbing one day & she did it. I've known a lot of cats in my life & she is the first I've ever seen like this. A very unusual cat.
 

We used to have a calico named Frankenkitty. At first we just thought she was a small quiet kitten. She could feed herself and use the litter box perhaps by instinct. But her name came from the way she walked. A few steps and a stumble, a few steps and she'd fall over completely. Sophie would nose her around the kitchen and she would just go limp. Then we realized she couldn't bathe herself. She would bring a paw up in the general direction of where she wanted to wash or scratch, then either give up or fall over. I started to bathe her daily and would take her for nail clips. Apparently it was some neurological issue. The vet said she was healthy, just "special". I've since heard of other cats like her. She passed from natural causes about a year later.
 
Blunder Woman, does not sound like an allergy to me. Otherwise it would be all the time instead of just when Damself is distressed. Poor little girl. Extra loving for her to make her feel secure in tense situations.

Guess cats are like people, they all have different personalities. I too have one wussie cat and one prize fighter. The fighter can bring down wussie cat and he is almost half the weight.

The prize fighter has one odd habit or maybe not so odd. He flips his crunchies out of the bowl one by one to eat them off the floor. He also has to move the water bowl out at least six inches or so in another direction before he drinks. OK so two odd habits.
 
Actually the backstory to that picture. You remember from Looney Tunes, the little girl?

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Our regular house cats were always able to tell my daughter when they had enough mauling. Poor Frank couldn't even meow. Something else I remember, that she never made a sound and didn't purr.
 
Animals have mental health problems just like us ( we are animals after all). If people have autism say, then why not cats? It's a neuro 'thing' just the same.Most of our cats have been 'neuro-typical' but the last one was very strange indeed and needed a lot of care.So much so, that it has put us off getting another one!
 
Or a penguin hybridlol, --actually knew a cat named penguin. Had a black and white cat named Jeeves also. P.G Wodehouse, anyone? Lawrence wrote about "jellicle cats are black and white".
 
Jellicle cats are black and white
Jellicle cats are rather small
Jellicle cats are merry and bright
And pleasant to hear when we caterwaul

Saw CATS on opening night in NYC - best show I've ever seen.
 
Thanks SifuPhil, And now I know what a tuxedo cat is :D

And my one guy is mostly white with a few black splotches and I call him a cow cat. If he had been a she I would have named him Elsie sort of after Elsie the Cow.
 
oakapple said:
Animals have mental health problems just like us ( we are animals after all). If people have autism say, then why not cats? It's a neuro 'thing' just the same.Most of our cats have been 'neuro-typical' but the last one was very strange indeed and needed a lot of care.So much so, that it has put us off getting another one!
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We had a little dog that had mental health issues. I think he was an autistic doggy. He couldn't take being touched or looked at and everything frightened him. He was also totally uncoordinated and just stepping up, he could lose his balance and fall over. He couldn't even chew things easily and would roll a tiny piece of cucumber around in his mouth or lick it for ever. I used to cut his food up into tiny little pieces because otherwise he'd have never gotten to eat. The only time he would get lively and forget about his fears and phobias was just before dinner but the minute he finished, down the veil (in his mind) would come again and he'd turn into a little slug again.
 

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