Thursday, March 28, 2024
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From 2010: Senior Mentoring…Youth Warming Program?

black cat sleeping on dilute calico
Giuseppe uses little Peaches as a pillow while she enjoys his big warmth.

We know from his long-distance relationship with Mlle. Daisy Emerald Marguerite that Giuseppe does have a fondness for mature ladies, but I will never know what made Giuseppe so attached to Peaches, perhaps he wanted a grandmama! In any case, from the time he was about a year old until we lost Peaches in October 2010, just a few months after this photo, Giuseppe was very gentle and caring with the petite little dilute calico and seeing the two together you just couldn’t miss how much they were opposites in size and coloring and gender and bearing. Well, he also used her as a pillow, but she never seemed to mind.

My oldest, Peaches at 19, and smallest at 5 pounds, and one of my youngest, Giuseppe at 21 months, and largest at 14 pounds and using Peaches as a pillow, curl together under the warm work light on my desk, otherwise known as a kitty keep-warm light on chilly days. Peaches is older and naturally gravitates toward warmer places, but I often find Giuseppe in the same places, and I also  see him shepherding Peaches into a ball, then curling around her and purring while she nestles into his youthful warmth.

Four boisterous kittens don’t always mix well with older cats, especially somewhat frail and slightly confused seniors such as Peaches. One youngster is a handful, but with each youngster added their destructive potential is increased exponentially.

Now that these kittens are adults they aren’t as wild, but each of them is a pretty big cat. Especially Giuseppe, the biggest of the litter. He’s about 14 pounds and could probably stand to lose about one, but I can still see the outlines of his ribs and he has no little pouch hanging below his belly, so a good bit of it is dense muscle.

I was concerned about Peaches when I began to let the kittens roam the house, partly because she is small but also because she is deaf and slightly confused and doesn’t always “get” what’s happening around her. But when the kittens tried to get her to play, running around her and getting in her way, bumping up against her, she just ignored them completely as if they weren’t there at all, much like Peaches does with anything that doesn’t interest her. They couldn’t get a rise out of her, so they left her alone.

She’s not entirely oblivious to their presence, though. I’ve awakened to see her curled in a tiny peach and gray ball right in the center of the four of them on my bed in the morning.

Click here for more photos of Peaches with Giuseppe and others of the Fantastic Four.

And another with three of them.

And my favorite, from just three days before she passed; Giuseppe was devoted to the end.

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Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

12 thoughts on “From 2010: Senior Mentoring…Youth Warming Program?

  • Pingback: The Creative Cat - Peaches and Giuseppe, Sittin’ in a Tree…2010

  • You have so many wonderful cat family members to remember and feel their warmth…and all those with you now…ya have to say “we cats rock!”

    Reply
    • Savannah, it’s the first time in my life that any of them have been related and really acting like a family. Before this they were all literally rescues, scooped up from somewhere by me, and mostly tolerating living together. It’s really magical now.

      Reply
  • Hey it’s Jet here.

    Wow, what a sweet bond they had… who does Giuseppe hang out with now?

    Reply
    • Jet, he hangs with his siblings, Peaches was apparently just a one-time thing. It almost seemed as if he knew her from a previous life! He certainly didn’t feel the same way about Cookie, and he’s actually not an outgoing type like Jelly Bean who actively makes friends. I guess it was just his role at the moment.

      Reply
    • Carolyn, it was very sweet. Some cats are natural caretakers and some are really outgoing, but Giuseppe is really neither one. He just took care of Peaches, and she was more than ready to accept.

      Reply
  • That is a sweet picture!!
    Looks like Peaches took things in stride.
    Purrs Tillie and Georgia,
    Tiger, Treasure and JJ

    Reply
    • What a lovely family you have–long hairs and tortie girls and Tillie reminds me of Mewsette! I did see Tillie on House Panthers a few days ago. Thanks for visiting!

      Reply
  • It’s funny how they work it out. I’ve found old and young can be purrfect. Btw, can you check whether I’m on your email subscription list?

    Reply
    • Layla, I think they knew each other from some time before. With others there was a process, but with Giuseppe and Peaches just seemed to recognize each other. She lost her sister just after she came here, and she’d lost her person, Giuseppe seemed to fill one of those roles. It was so beautiful.

      I just checked my spam folder and I apologize–you had three comments in there! I thought I’d cleared you with an approval, but I’ll be sure to check now that things are calming down with the new site.

      Reply
    • Second reply–I just checked and I don’t see your e-mail either in my admin panel or in my Feedburner list. Go ahead and sign up with the Follow button or the e-mail link, I’ll keep a lookout for you.

      Reply

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