Cleopatra was born July 24th 2002 and like I said it was time to think about getting a cat closer in age to Alex. Mike and I decided that we wanted an Egyptian Mau being that we have visited Egypt and I have studied Egyptology, I too wanted to own the “cat of the Pharaohs.”
Cleopatra looks like a little snow leopard and she has beautiful green eyes. We picked her up on November 16th and she has been a joy to have around. We were concerned about how the other cats would react, but that fear was put to rest the first night when all three of them slept on the bed together! There was a bit of hissing but no cat fights, thank god! Cleo is an extremely playful kitten, which is exactly what Alex needs, now Coco can enjoy her retirement! Funny enough Cleo does most of the chasing even though she is half of Alex’s size! Alex really is a chicken! Coco joins in on some of the playtime, but she really prefers to watch from her queenly perch.
Although we have only had Cleo a month she fits perfectly with our family. She is also a very smart little cat; she loves to play with her “sticky mouse” (mouse on a stick). When she wants to play she will claw my leg, I’m trying to break her of that habit. She loves it when I throw it down the stairs, she chases it and runs at full speed back up the stairs with it in her mouth! AND the newest thing is to climb the Christmas tree, I’m almost ready to take it down because she is destroying it! And I thought Alex was the climber!
Cleo has settled in nicely with our family and in true Navy style it is time to move AGAIN! Guess where we are going…..NAPLES ITALY! I seem to be having moments of déjà vu!
So here we go again, we packed up the house and flew to Munich and then Napoli, yes, with three cats. About 4 hours into the flight Coco decided she wanted OUT of the cat carrier so we let her climb into Mike’s lap. So picture this, we were seated in coach, middle seats a business man on one side me in the middle and Mike. So it’s a bit dark in the cabin so Coco just blends in BUT at one point the business man turns and see Coco sitting there! He kind of does a double take and I say “I’m sorry are you allergic to cat? We can put her back in the carrier if you are” He says “no, just surprised to see a cat!” I say, “actually, there are three!” At that moment I unzipped the carrier and Cleo pops her head out! Now she has these incredible shining green eyes and the macho business man says “oh how cuuuuuuuuute!” I thought it was funny! At about that time Coco was noticed by the flight attendant so we had to put her back in the carrier! We had a crazy 5 hour layover in Munich but that was OK, because the kitties could get out and walk around.
Upon arrival in Naples, I realized that nothing had changed! Still polluted and crazy with stray cats and dogs running around everywhere (what am I doing living here again?) We eventually found a lovely villa to live in with a view of the water and an amazing garden. Cleo and Alex immediately fell in love with the garden and played chase around the lemon and tangerine trees, Coco just enjoyed sleeping in the sun.
July rolled around and something terrible happened…Cleo was struck with a bizarre illness called Pyothorax after many horrible trips to the Italian Vets, where they really didn't know what they were doing, she died……it was a horrible experience and it made me want to come home more then ever! Alex was extremely upset too, he lost his playmate and we lost part of our little family. She was just 2 days shy of her 2nd birthday. We will always remember her...
Cleopatra looks like a little snow leopard and she has beautiful green eyes. We picked her up on November 16th and she has been a joy to have around. We were concerned about how the other cats would react, but that fear was put to rest the first night when all three of them slept on the bed together! There was a bit of hissing but no cat fights, thank god! Cleo is an extremely playful kitten, which is exactly what Alex needs, now Coco can enjoy her retirement! Funny enough Cleo does most of the chasing even though she is half of Alex’s size! Alex really is a chicken! Coco joins in on some of the playtime, but she really prefers to watch from her queenly perch.
Although we have only had Cleo a month she fits perfectly with our family. She is also a very smart little cat; she loves to play with her “sticky mouse” (mouse on a stick). When she wants to play she will claw my leg, I’m trying to break her of that habit. She loves it when I throw it down the stairs, she chases it and runs at full speed back up the stairs with it in her mouth! AND the newest thing is to climb the Christmas tree, I’m almost ready to take it down because she is destroying it! And I thought Alex was the climber!
Cleo has settled in nicely with our family and in true Navy style it is time to move AGAIN! Guess where we are going…..NAPLES ITALY! I seem to be having moments of déjà vu!
So here we go again, we packed up the house and flew to Munich and then Napoli, yes, with three cats. About 4 hours into the flight Coco decided she wanted OUT of the cat carrier so we let her climb into Mike’s lap. So picture this, we were seated in coach, middle seats a business man on one side me in the middle and Mike. So it’s a bit dark in the cabin so Coco just blends in BUT at one point the business man turns and see Coco sitting there! He kind of does a double take and I say “I’m sorry are you allergic to cat? We can put her back in the carrier if you are” He says “no, just surprised to see a cat!” I say, “actually, there are three!” At that moment I unzipped the carrier and Cleo pops her head out! Now she has these incredible shining green eyes and the macho business man says “oh how cuuuuuuuuute!” I thought it was funny! At about that time Coco was noticed by the flight attendant so we had to put her back in the carrier! We had a crazy 5 hour layover in Munich but that was OK, because the kitties could get out and walk around.
Upon arrival in Naples, I realized that nothing had changed! Still polluted and crazy with stray cats and dogs running around everywhere (what am I doing living here again?) We eventually found a lovely villa to live in with a view of the water and an amazing garden. Cleo and Alex immediately fell in love with the garden and played chase around the lemon and tangerine trees, Coco just enjoyed sleeping in the sun.
July rolled around and something terrible happened…Cleo was struck with a bizarre illness called Pyothorax after many horrible trips to the Italian Vets, where they really didn't know what they were doing, she died……it was a horrible experience and it made me want to come home more then ever! Alex was extremely upset too, he lost his playmate and we lost part of our little family. She was just 2 days shy of her 2nd birthday. We will always remember her...
