Oh, Mel.

Sigh.

My cat is special. Like, not ribbons and bows special, but like, special. Like, the politically correct term is differently-abled. I've noticed that her focus isn't great and at times she even looks slightly crossed-eyed. Just a bit. But a bit is enough to get a mom wondering about her fur baby. My fur baby might be different from the other kitties.

My fur baby might be better off in a helmet as she has proven now that she has zero grace, agility, or balance.

She turned away from Jeremiah today and ran into the railing on the stairs.

She tried to hop an inch from the desk to the chair - and fell. She also can't make jumps to get her food, which is on the desk in the guest room (Yes, she is headquartered in one of the guest rooms. Are you SURE you don't want to come visit?). I have to set up a chair so she can jump to that and then do a small hop to the desk.

She tried to STEP from a chair to a coffee table and her middle half sank. Picture front paws on the table, back paws on the chair, and a sagging middle. Until she fell.

I'm reminded of my first cat, Cecil, who used to fall asleep in the windowsill while she was standing up and then she would just tip over. Whoops. 

Oh, Mel. I'm going to be honest and say that I thought Snowshoes were supposed to be intelligent. I thought I was going to be getting a genius cat that could perform emergency surgery if I needed and solve complex puzzles all while finding a way to end problems like world hunger and global warming.

I guess the shelter should have emphasized that she is a Snowshoe MIX.

I don't know what to say. Humans are all different intelligences, right? So it only makes sense that some animals are smarter than others. It's completely obvious with our dogs. I've got rocks in the backyard that are smarter than Atticus.

And speaking of Atter-patter, Mel is quite sure that he is a feline. Which is amusing for us to watch, but not so much for him.

I think Scout, who I'm now assuming, based on interactions with Mel, bordered on genius. Scout played fetch (and could return the item to be thrown again), she could do big hops with grace and balance, she didn't run into any of the furniture, and she knew that Atticus was a dog. And she knew when to stop eating.

I'm guessing Mel has gained at least three pounds since I got her. I'm going to have to start monitoring her food intake as she does not know when to stop.

But, oh, how I love her. She hears me come home and runs to the landing on the stairs to see me. She sticks her odd shaped head through the little rails and stares right at me (sort of). She cuddles on the bed every night. And she provides endless entertainment. Yesterday Atticus was resting with me and she came up, smelled his foot, and then started batting at it. Again, he was not amused, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Anyone else have an odd pet?

p.s. We ended up purchasing one of those break-away collars for her, for fear that her own...oh, let's just say it - her own stupidity would get her in trouble. I would say that she has gotten stuck maybe four times already and had to break herself loose.

p.p.s. The tiling is happening today! Oh boysies.