Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Obligatory Cat Photo

This is Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter. He was named Hannibal because, well, sometimes he's not very nice. He's known by veterinarians throughout Columbus, Ohio because he's especially not very nice when he's being examined by them. One veterinarian covered his cage with bright orange stickers that proclaim, "Danger! Will bite!" I was indignant. Hannibal was proud. He wants people to think he's ferocious. (I swear, on one occasion they put a leather muzzle on him and he really DID look like his namesake.)

When he's at home, Hannibal is the sweetest, most affectionate pussycat imaginable. He'll crawl onto anyone's lap to get his ears scratched and to make himself at home, leaving huge wads of orange fur all over their clothes. He'll purr and drool on people, too.

Alex is very allergic to Hannibal, but is nice enough to get shots every month just so he and my cat can co-habitate. Isn't that sweet? (Don't tell Alex I said he's sweet. He'll think I want something...like another toxic cat.)

YarnMartians have a lot of pets and I'll include photos of them in an upcoming posting. In the meantime, if there are any veterinary dentists out there, could you please check out Hannibal's fangs and let me know how they look? He's not very co-operative when we try to get him to "Open wide!" during his annual check-ups.

3 comments:

Teendoc said...

Hannibal looks like a Norwegian forest cat. Is he? Generally they are so nice. We have a non-biting Weegie and a DSH.

Deborah Knight said...

Hannibal is a Maine Coon Cat. And he's the sweetest pussycat in the world. Or, more correctly, he was. I am devastated to report that Hannibal became very ill a couple of weeks ago and we had to put him to sleep. He was 15 years old, and had been fighting kidney disease. For almost a year he lived on a diet of human tuna, turkey, chicken and half-and-half cream. We also gave him IVs of fluids to help him. Our veterinarian, Dr. Shields, was absolutely wonderful, helping us give Hannibal the best care possible. This was a difficult decision, filled with many tears, and I miss him terribly. I'm not familiar with the Weegie and will have to look it up. DSH's are my favorites, I think. There's nothing sweeter than a good old non-designer pussycat. Please give your cats a nice big pat for me!

Teendoc said...

I'm just checking back here and I am so sorry to hear the news about Hannibal. I hope that he is playing across the Rainbow Bridge with my kitty-son Kirin who left this earth back in 2004.

And Norwegian Forest Cats (or Weegies) are relatives of the Maine Coons, so they look similar and have similar dispositions: generally sweet and friendly.