Featured soul cat: Foxy Discopants

I’m excited to share our first interview about a real soul companion cat. Foxy’s human is Juliet–she’s a friend who happily volunteered to kick off this series with me.

Note: Your (past or present) soul cat could be featured too!

Here’s my online interview with Juliet about her soul companion cat with the awesome name. She said she named him Foxy Discopants “because when he was a wee kitty, he had very big, fox-like ears. The Discopants came from the way the black fur on his long front legs stopped a little past his white paws, creating the appearance that he was wearing bell-bottom pants!”

How did you find each other?

“The story of how he came into my life is very special to me.

I am a 4th grade teacher in a public school. A couple of years ago, near the end of the school year, I came to school very sad because my first sweet cat friend, Mr. Jones, had just passed away after being in my life for 17 years.

I shared this, one day,  with my students during our morning ‘meeting on the rug.’

All of a sudden, an excited murmur broke out among the kids, which frankly annoyed me a bit, because I had expected a mournful moment of silence or something somber like that.

But then a boy raised his hand and asked if I would ever want another cat.

I said, ‘Well, maybe some day, but not for a while.’

He continued undeterred to ask if I would ever want ‘a black kitty with white paws and a white chin?’

Now, at this point I was starting to wonder what was going on, especially since this one girl in the class, Jessica, kept shushing him and looking at him reproachfully.  I noticed that all the kids were staring at me, anxiously awaiting my response.

I remembered that Jessica had recently had a litter of cats that she was very fond of. So I asked, ‘what’s going on here guys?’

Again a buzz broke out, and Jessica finally said, ‘I was going to give you one of my kittens on the last day of school. It was supposed to be a surprise! Thanks a lot, Sekou!’

The kids and I all laughed and although I wasn’t considering being a ‘kitty mama’ again so soon, I was so touched by this gesture that I couldn’t help but accept her gift.

The class immediately erupted in hoots and yells and there I was facing raising a little kitten after all these years of having a calm and sedate elderly cat.  Don’t you just love life’s fun little surprises?”

Is there a trait, behavior, or experience that stands out about Foxy?

“There are so many! Foxy (or Poppy as I call him often) is at once playful, curious, demanding, and utterly cuddly and sweet. He has the biggest heart of any cat I have ever known.

And the biggest personality. He is completely outgoing and sociable: not afraid of strangers in the least. He sits on the sidewalk outside and looks as people pass by around him (most often they will stop and admire his rakish good looks, as he is after all, wearing a tuxedo!).

He is not afraid of dogs or other cats, but is not aggressive either. Just simply very friendly and curious. In fact, when some neighborhood cats approach and hiss at him, he backs away but seems genuinely baffled by their behavior!

Another personality trait is that he is super athletic and fearless! When he was just 6 months old, he climbed up the side of our very steep and slanted roof and sat imperiously on the edge of the chimney, looking out over the terrain below. I was really nervous about how he was going to get down, but he descended quite easily and confidently.

He is also very skilled at jumping straight up into the air and batting his long arms around to catch his “prey” (a feathery cat toy). We call him ‘Spider Bat Monkey!’ “

What made you aware you shared a special bond?

“Our special bond occurs in the early morning hours when he jumps on the bed and cuddles shamelessly, curling himself around with his head right in the crook of my neck.

Once, he was leaning up on the pillow beside me and we fell asleep facing each other and I could feel his breathing on my cheek. That felt very close and comforting, as though he were my little baby, or a cuddly teddy bear come to life!”

(Bonus Question) Is there a cat care or feeding technique that has worked well for you?

“When they were smaller, I started feeding both my cats a homemade recipe recommended in Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Natural Cat Food.

But after a while, they weren’t eating it and so I gave them the commercial canned food. But soon that didn’t appeal to them either. So now they eat their dry food (Royal Canin brand), supplemented by sliced, organic turkey breast. I know– spoil them, but they just love it and get sooo excited to eat some when I come home! I just can’t resist their charms!”

Note: Does your special cat deserve a feature story too?