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Posted over 8 years ago
| Updated over 8 years ago
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My basic info
Breed
Maine Coon
Color
Gray or Blue (Mostly)
Age
Young
Sex
Female
Pet ID
–
Hair Length
long
My details
Shots current
Spayed / Neutered
My story
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Here's what the humans have to say about me:
Phoebe: 15 month old female, grey shaded and white Maine Coon/ Chipmunk mix
Update Jan., 2016: Phoebe is growing by leaps and bounds. Maine Coon’s grow physically til they are three or three and a half years old. Phoebe is growing bigger and more beautiful and now her white ruff is coming in. At a year and a half old she is still really a growing kitten, playful, curious and full of fun. She will be a big kitty. She has settled in and is showing a very loving,playful nature. I love how her pink nose and green eyes look together.
Original post: I know the photos can’t show it, but Phoebe may very well be the softest cat I have ever fostered. Her fur is like very fine silk. “Oh WOW!” says everyone who pets her. Her grey fur has a white undercoat so she is a very unusual “shaded grey” cat. I love her little pink nose.
Her super big plume of a tail typically curls forward over her back which earned her the Chipmunk joke mentioned above. It is an amazing tail, so full and plush. She waves it about and curls it sinuously all the time. It is great fun to watch.
She basically never stops moving when you are trying to photograph her. She’s a kid at 15 months, a teenager, and she finds everything in life interesting and worthy of investigation. She has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm.
She was left at a shelter by her family. I think she came from a family that did not train their children how to treat a kitten (or know themselves). I think she was tiny and soft (God knows) and adorable and not raised with children who knew how to respect her rights and how to read her body language. She loves attention and will happily solicit pets from a stranger. However, if you are holding her and she wants to get down and you do not comply with her polite request, after trying a couple more times to get her point across, she will hiss at you and get upset. I think this was a familiar scenario in her past.
The shelter told me her family said she would nip at them so they didn’t want to keep her. The shelter, of course, could not put her up for adoption and her only chance for life was to have a rescue take her in. They liked her so much they asked Purebreds if we could take her in. I am so glad we did.
I have had other fosters with a history of nipping, and it seems to be the same story. If your wishes are not respected, if your family is blind to what you are so clearly telling them, what is a kitty to do? If you can’t get down and can’t get away, you have few choices -- to hiss to show your displeasure, and, if that does not get the point across, to nip.
Phoebe has not nipped any of us at all, not once, but of course we do not mistreat her. We couldn’t understand it. “She doesn’t nip?” we said to each other.. During a photo session, she was held on a shoulder for a face shot longer than she wanted--“Wait wait wait! Let me try just one more,” the photographer said.--and so she surprised us by hissing at us, and I went Aha!! Suddenly, her story all made sense.
Phoebe could not be a nicer girl. She’s a baby girl and still learning what the world is and how she should be in it. Usually it seems we have teenage boy kitties who routinely disgrace themselves as they are learning about the right way to behave in the world. Phoebe’s not a goofball like they are, but she is still learning and growing confidence, and so she should be, at her age. She already is a big girl and she will continue growing for two more years. Her paws are huge. What a big, soft armful she will be.!
I expect she has a few bad memories of how she was treated which will fade away quickly as she relaxes into a new cat-savvy family. She is a little frightened of other cats, but she seems to be steadily getting over that. We haven’t had her long, so she is still settling in. She would probably be ok with another kitty companion given the appropriate slow introduction. I have no idea how she is with dogs, but I expect she would show them their place in the scheme of things rather quickly. Phoebe is a very smart girl as her Maine Coon heritage would suggest. Her exuberance for life will keep her and her family entertained.
She will be a wonderful companion for some lucky family.
She eats wet and dry food and is litterbox perfect.
Her foster mom is Harriet in Santa Cruz.
Contact Harriet at (831) 336-2983 or toharrietjane@comcast.net if you have questions, or send an Adoption Application. If you are unable to reach Harriet by phone or email, email us at Info@purebredsplus.org
