Hey there fellow cat-loving folks!
February 18th is my cat Holly’s “Gotcha Day”, also called “Adoptaversary”, or maybe even “Gotcha-versary”! But whatever you call it, it’s the anniversary of day that we adopted her and brought her home.
Since her humble beginnings as a barn cat and young mother of 3 kittens from Fresno, Holly has become quite the Princess. She has the house and humans all to herself, nine designated sleeping places, a cat tower and tons of cat toys. Holly’s cuteness and fondness for play has made her popular with my fellow cat-loving friends online.
Holly has been with us for two years now, and the amount of fun and laughter that she’s brought into our lives is immeasurable. She’s more than just a pretty face, too. She’s amazing!
So for this, her second Gotcha Day, I’m going to highlight some of Holly’s better points:
She’s Athletic
The very first week we got her, we discovered that Holly was something in-between an athlete and a circus performer. While all cats are athletes to at least a small degree, Holly has done some things that would definitely get her into the finals of any championship:
- Climbs up on the very top beam of the vaulted ceiling
- Jumps through the rungs in the banister
- Shoots herself out of the cave in her cat tree (like a cannon ball)
- Can leap from one level down to the next (no need for the ladder)
- Can pop straight up out of a paper bag
- Can run up to 40 mph
Holly loves to POP straight up out of boxes and bags (bags are her favorite) But first she peeps over the side for a game of peek-a-boo! We also play soccer together sometimes with one of her crinkle balls. She loves that! She’s a great goalie. Of course, it could be that no one is worse at sports than I am, but as far as games go, she has yet to let me win.
She’s Talented
Holly was named after Buddy Holly, so it’s important that she lives up to his great image of talent. Fortunately, she does. She is bar none, the smartest cat I’ve ever seen when it comes to playing. She makes up her own games! She’ll hide her toys under something, or beneath the rung of a chair so that she can challenge herself to attack them at different angles, or dig them out like a puzzle.
When we first got her, she used to play fetch with herself! She’d drop her baby blue mouse off the edge of the second floor down into the stairs below. Then she’d run down, retrieve the mouse and do it all over again!
She carried that blue mouse with her everywhere for the first 6 months we had her. It was her security blanket. She’d even hide it for safe-keeping. But soon, she was on to bigger and better things!
Like pole dancing, for instance. Holly has been known to pole dance on the legs of the tall chair, while chasing her toy that is tied to it. This is quite the spectacle, and while pole dancing generally has a sleazy connotation, I can assure you that Holly does it with taste… she always tastes the toy mouse that’s tied to the pole!
I finally got her one of those 3-tiered cat tracks and a cat tunnel for Christmas! She has an absolute field day with them! But playing with them in a conventional way was not interesting enough: she had to combine the two toys to make one big toy (yes, she did this herself, I did not set it up that way for her) She runs through the tunnel and attacks the ball tower. Sometimes she even sits in the opening of the tunnel and reaches out and plays with the balls at the same time. I call it “tunnelball”!
Finally, there’s my elastic hair ties. She’s stolen so many, that I gave up and let her play with one, under supervision. These hair ties have a few uses to her:
- As a slingshot – she likes to play “Fling and Fetch!”
- As an exercise band (she actually pulls the elastic in and out!)
- As prey to chase
- As an instrument
That last talent, she’s working on. (I knew she had some MEWsical talent!) She plucks the elastic with her teeth, or sometimes a claw. She is also learning to play the string on her mouse wand, when she’s not fishing, that is.
She Sleeps Weird
Don’t all cats? Yes. But Holly sleeps very weird. The first time I saw her with her legs draped over opposite sides of the back of the couch, I laughed my ass off. I must have taken 100 pictures. I’d never seen a cat do that before!
More of Holly’s sleeping places include, but are not limited to…
- All boxes
- The blue chair in the loft
- The rust couch
- The sunroom chair
- The large black suitcase
- The small black suitcase
- The back of the beige couch
- The hallway chair
- The PAWrents bed
Once, she even slept inside a Christmas gift bag that was under the tree!
She’s Vocal
While some pet owners might argue that this gets annoying, Holly’s frequent vocalizations make me laugh. She isn’t all that loud, but she definitely makes her presence known. Aside from her normal meow, she has made two distinct sounds on more than one occasion. Both sounds are made when she’s walking and has entered a room. The first one is: “E-myeeeaaah-YEH!” which is kind of a long whine ending with a single syllable that’s voiced with definite conviction. This sound is used to express frustration and to get attention from her humans. Basically, she’s saying “Hey! Don’t you see me?! Pay attention to me, dammit!”
The second sound, (my personal favorite) goes like: “E-meyeh-myeh-myeh-myeh?” (That last “myeh” being in the form of a question.) This is a sweet, friendly sound as if she’s asking “Hey there, how are you doing today?” TOO CUTE!
Another funny thing is when she meows when she’s running up or down the stairs. It sounds like “M-yeh-eh-eh-eh-eh….” That always makes me laugh! Then there was the time that she sang along with The Everly Brothers. A couple of summers ago, I was watching the house and it was just me and Holly for days! I decided I’d take that time to write a review on an Everly Brothers CD set. There was a long, drawn-out harmonized note in one of their songs, and Holly happened to meow right at the exact time. She blended beautifully with Don and Phil… While she might not have a future in show business, it sure was funny!
She’s Brave
Some cats are scaredy cats, while others are brave. Holly certainly fits the latter. She’s outgoing and curious and likes to explore. She’s not afraid of people, other cats or dogs.
Holly is an indoor cat, and she seems okay with it. She has a small tent enclosure that she sits in on the deck to get fresh air and watch the birds.
She’s Just Plain Adorable!
After this post, you probably want to adopt Holly for yourself, but sorry, she’s taken! Her cuteness in both appearance and antics makes me smile even when nothing else can. Pictures don’t do her justice so you might want to follow us on Instagram @mariepascal82 and see Holly in action. She has a short video every Saturday Night known as “The Caturday Night Movie”.
I honestly have no intention of making Holly “INSTA-famous”. I just don’t have the time, energy or even desire to have a “famous internet cat” account. But I do have to share some of the things she does with the public. It’s my moral responsibility! What kind of a person would I be to keep all this cuteness for myself?
So once again, a very HAPPY Gotcha Day to our little gray and white Princess, Miss Rock Around With Holly B. Catt! 😺
Caturday Night Movie graphic made with Instagram stories.
Holly B. does not endorse any brands, stores, products or companies.
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