Name: Mama Bear

Age: Not sure, but approximately 6

Breed: Gray tabby

Nicknames: Mama, Baby Bear, Pretty Bear, Baldy Hairy Girl, Itty Bitty/Itsy Bitsy, Little Girl, Sweet Bear

Adoption Story: Part of a group of 4 cats we took in after a previous tenant at Chris’ apartment abandoned her cats

Issues: obsessive-compulsive licking problem, scaredy cat complex, Stevie Wonder behavior, anorexia (?)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Mama

Mama Bear is the only girl cat in the whole house.

Mama was once known as ‘Mercedes.’ She was the second cat of the former tenant in one of Chris’ old apartments. The tenant abandoned Vince along with Mama, so Chris and I adopted the kitties.

When we first took in Mama, she was a baby-making machine, hence the name Mama Bear. Vincent was her boyfriend and she had several litters during the first year we knew her, when she still lived outside. Sadly, nearly all of her babies ‘disappeared.’ At the time, we lived in Gainesville, FL, and the apartment butted up to a bunch of woods. It’s likely that her babies wandered off and were eaten by possums or raccoons. :(

She finally became an indoor cat when Chris and I moved in together in the summer of 2004. We were getting ready to have all of our new family members spayed/neutered and vaccinated. We didn’t know it, but Mama was pregnant again at the time. Shortly before Hurricane Frances did some nasty damage to our house and car (another story), Mama went into premature labor and gave birth to what can only be described as deformed fetal kittens. In fact, one of the ‘kittens’ was only a head– they were very badly malformed babies. I took her to the vet for an emergency spay. She had a total of 5 dead babies inside of her. It was, in a word, awful.

Luckily, Mama pulled through just great. It took her a very long time to come around to us, though. Being the only girl cat in the house, she was very timid and meek. She wouldn’t show affection toward us at all. The spay, I think, really traumatized her and she was scared.

It took almost a year, but Mama finally started showing her love. Her affection, it turned out, was– uh– unique. You see, Mama’s been around the block– several times– and her looks kind of show it. Her tail’s crooked at the base. She has a tendency to walk a little sideways at times. She almost looks cross-eyed. She was probably 4 pounds when we took her in, and she’s just barely 7 pounds now. She’s always had bald legs (which have become worse with her anxiety-induced licking problem). Edit: she’s hairy once again!

Therefore, when Mama gets affectionate, it’s truly a sight. First, she does her Stevie Wonder impression. Her eyes sort of roll back and she sways her head back and forth, just like Stevie. Then, she starts flopping around like a fish. She does somersaults, falls off of furniture, and trips over herself in an incredibly endearing display of affection. If you repeat her name in a high-pitched tone as she’s doing this, it really throws her into a frenzy and the flopping becomes unbearably cute.

Mama is Toester’s mother and Vince’s long-term girlfriend. She truly holds a very special place in our hearts and home.