Just By Chance, My Pookie

by Marie
(Georgia)

I work at a local university and on a rainy cold January as I was pulling out onto the main street leaving for lunch I see this kitten dart into the street and a half a dozen students standing around.

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I pull over as I am afraid the kitten is going to get run over. At the same time a university police car pulls into the middle of the street and tells everyone that the local animal control was on their way to try to catch the kitten.

The students said they had been trying to catch the kitten for over an hour. With the help of the police woman she and I were able to catch the kitten. It was frightened and exhausted.

I wrapped the kitten in a towel and took it to my local vet. The vet informed me that the kitten was very weak; its hair was matted and was tangled with hundreds of sand spurs.

He could not tell its sex and he guessed its age was between 4 to 5 weeks old.

I took the kitten home, cleaned and nursed it back to excellent health within a week it had doubled in size and it is a Boy!

I had given him a girl’s name "Pookie" as I figured it might have been female since the vet could not tell its sex... He has received all of his worming and vaccinations.

Last month Pookie was neutered. He is our first indoor cat and he has not been outside since the day I found him except for vet trips. My husband keeps telling me that Pookie is a very large cat and he acts more dog like than a cat.

He has very wide hips, large paws with hair tufts and he does not have very good balance, a little bit clumsy. He is the sweetest cat and purrs all the time. He will come to you by his name.

He has only meowed a few times, he makes this chirping sound, loves, loves, loves water, and he cannot stand for me to shower without him. Has a bushy tail that he holds straight up when he walks.

It reminds me of Pepe le Pew (the cartoon skunk). The Tail bone is very thick.

I have to be careful that I don't leave my things out like jewelry as he takes it to play with and he hides my things.

I have been looking for my eye glasses for over 3 months! I am not a forgetful person and before they disappeared I caught him playing with them...

He also wakes me up when my alarm clock goes off every morning. He loves to play with his ball; he bats it around the shower when I tell him to go play with his ball.

The pictures I have attached are not very good, took them with my phone. He is gray with silver gray high lights running through his coat.

His hair is starting to bush out around his neck (we had to trim so much of it off to get the sand spurs out) I recently trimmed the backside as kitty litter was sticking to his fur.

He loves being around our 3 Boston Terriers.

He made the strangest, loudest crying sound last weekend as I had my out of town son and family in for a visit and I was in the kitchen closed up cooking for most of the day and he wanted to join me and family.

When he stretches completely out he looks like he’s about 3 feet long.

Pookie is very smart, in the first couple of months his kitten play would get a little rough (I started trimming his nails) I would say no don’t hurt me and he would stop.

He gives me hugs. He places his paws up on my shoulder and likes for me to pick him up in this position and carry him up on my shoulder with his legs hanging down the length of my body.

It was my son that told me that he thought Pookie was a Maine Coon. We all figure that a student must have had the kitten and somehow it got lost on campus.

It does not matter if he is or is not a Maine Coon; he is a very special cat. We have had only 3 cats, our last just passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 14, and we believe it was the flea treatment.

We used Frontline Plus for the first time (that’s another story). She was a Ragdoll, a very sweet gentle cat.

We hope to have Pookie for a very long time, I just hope he does not grow to be the size of some of the Maine Coons I've seen pictures of as he will be taller than me! I'm only 5'2".

The New Adventures of Pookie

It has been over 9 months since I submitted my first story "Just By Chance, My Pookie". Thought I would up-date. Pookie is over a year old now and just as loving and playful.

It has been a great year for the most part except we lost one of our Boston Terriers to illness. Trixie was 13 the youngest of the three.

Pookie has grown some more and just as playful as ever. I have trained him to sit on command, was not hard to do at all just a couple of tries and he haD it down pat!

There are several other voice commands he follows: He comes when called by name (we don't say kitty, kitty) voice command of down, go play, where are your toys, he’ll run to his toy basket and pulls out a toy or two.

Sometimes when a door is closed he reaches up to the knob to try to open it. Now that would be a trick! He loves to be brushed and in fact he sometimes brings his brush to me!

If I did not see it for myself I would not believe it. I still cannot find my glasses and we cannot put anything down that might be a new object because he is going to play with it or hide it away.

Pookie has continued to be my alarm clock; if it fails to wake me or I have forgotten to turn it on he wakes me up. He loves to climb into things like my suitcase or pocketbook.

It's funny to see him trying to crawl into one of my small handbags! He loves exploring inside closets, cabinets and dresser drawers; but I'm sure this is a cat thing.

He loves lounging around and playing with Roxie and Rex (my two Boston Terriers). I just have to get a photo of the three of them sitting and waiting their turn for a treat!

I have a few poor quality pictures taken by my cell in September and December 2011. It doesn't help the quality having the subject wearing gray fur!

In the evening when Pookie is ready to retire he will run back and forth from the living room to the bedroom; especially if I get up from my seat he takes off running down the hall towards the bedroom; he returns after he has given up on me.

I can get up a dozen or so times and he'll take off. I think it gets on his nerves when I'm up and down a lot and I won't go to bed. He'll take a swipe at me and makes a funny grunt sound.

It's strange there is only one room in the house that he will not stay out of my lap, it is the room I mostly spend my down time; any other sitting area he finds his own seat, It can be next to me or across the room...

He'll even pull down a blanket from the back of the couch or chair to cover himself up!

Even though we have had cats, Pookie is our first indoor cat in the family; we just did not realize how smart cats are or is he just a brainiac? He blows us away!

Hope I have not bored anyone and I'm sure your pets are just as smart...

comments:
Any Kittens?
by: David

We had what is know as a Nebelung. In short he was a long haired Russian Blue. We mistook him for a part Maine Coon for most of his life.

Look up pictures for Nebelung cats and see if they fit your cat.

Secondly, if the description does fit and you end up with kittens, please give me a shout at mangotel@bellsouth.net

Sink
by: Kayla

I just had to comment after reading your story and seeing Pookie in the sink.

I just posted the story of my cats Minky and Lucy (probably not approved yet) When we got Lucy we did not know his sex and so we gave him a girl's name too. Of course that does not phase us now (he is 5).

He knows it is his name, and so do we. When he fit (he is smaller in the picture on my post than he is now) he would sit in the bathroom sink too!

Thank you for the update!
by: Anonymous

It's wonderful to hear your story, thank you so much for sharing! Your Pookie sounds like a wonderful companion.

Fairy Pookahs
by: Kathleen Marie Hambleton Bryant

It makes the heart glow to "help" others, I know. N.B.: to the Irish, a "Pookah" is a fairy --- think of HARVEY, and Jimmy Stewart.

And, of course, fairies are of both sexes. I love the name: my son had two "Imaginary Friends" named 'Blute' and 'Beena', that I later learned are fairy names. and he named his two Maine Coon Cats these names.

I say yes!
by: Anonymous

He MUST be a maine coon. Look at that tail!!! What a cutie!! they are just THE BEST animals in the world! :)

He's a winner!
by: Cheri

He has the same cute little round mouth that MacMuffin has. He looks like a Maine Coon to me.

Tail
by: Helen

My goodness, Pookie, what a wonderful plume you have!

awe
by: Katie

what a great story!! =)

Pookie is most definitely a Maine Coon because
by: Brandi

Because he looks exactly like mine. I wish I could send you a picture of Thunderstorm.Also, I just laughed alot at their similarities. They are a trip, one I am so blessed to enjoy.

My boys ended up in a rescue. Love at first sight. Made a 10 hour trip so they could come home and rescue me. I joyfully emailed my new babies photos to absolutely everyone.

I kept getting a response I think those are Maine Coons. What's a Maine Coon? So I found a reputable breeder and we went over everything from big furry feet to that unmistakable Coon nose and all-around the block.

You can get a DNA test kit not expensive and I was concerned that they may have ended up in rescue due to genetic issues. Ended up with do you want to breed them.

No thanks, just love them. Turns out that solid black are one of the rarest colors. A co-worker suggested that I write a children's book with him as the star, if I could keep him from chasing the bubbles in my bubble bath long enough to do something else interesting, Lol. He certainly has.

Have you heard him trill yet? If you can Pandora native American music and find one with Hawks screaming, he will trill.

They do it to warm about predators. My regular cat looked at me that clearly said I thought you said they were kittens.

I do not know why a litter of MC ended up in rescue or why you came about yours but I think we must have guardian Angels that reached down and gave us the most precious of gifts.

May your horses run free, those you love live long, and peace and blessings be yours.

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