She weighed just over a half-pound and was still nursing when she was abandoned. She was found at a mini-mart near my house, limping around on three paws and looking for food. She was so tiny from lack of food that she looked like she was only a few weeks old, but when we took her to the vet they said she was about 6 weeks old. She's still a little runt, but she's getting lanky, much to my surprise, considering that Cinder, my other stray cat who almost starved is a big tub of jello.
In the picture above she has KMR on her face (Kitten Milk Replacement), and she's about 7 weeks old - still under a pound.
When she came into the house she went straight to Cinder for affection, but Cinder wasn't too happy with the intruder. In turn, Mr. Peterson decided that Kodi would make a good mom and Kodi obliged happily, as evidenced in this picture. For a while there we had to break Mr. Peterson of the habit of trying (and failing, of course) to nurse off Kodi. Since then Mr. Peterson has finally won Cinder's heart as well, and they often chase each other around the house.
More observant readers may be wondering why I have a female cat named Mr. Peterson. It has to do with loving to name things "Mister" combined with name of another black/gray, tiny female cat from the anti-humor cartoon Jim's Journal. Plus the fact that my friends all veto'd my first name choice for her which was "Flash T. Supercat". True.
These days (at the age of 6 months) Mr. Peterson is quite a little devil. She is extremely playful, I haven't gotten much sleep in the last few months, but I think she's finally calming down. She's learning how to actually stay in one place and be pet. She's a good cat. :)
Update, 6/1999: Mr. P is almost three years old. She's at 8 pounds but she still has the same little head. I think that's why her personality hasn't changed, she is still much of a monkey.
Update, 5/2003: As it turns out, because she was so undernourished when she was still supposed to be nursing, she'll never fully grow up. She has something which my vet calls S.H.S. which stands for, and I am not making this up, "Small Head Syndrome." This is most evident when she's compared to another cat, and you notice that her head is awfully small. So, she'll be riding the short bus for the rest of her life, as she is now almost seven and still running around like a maniac. As she often tells me with her eyes wide: "I see dead people. Dead people with dangly string things that I must catch."
Mr. Peterson and Cinder look amazingly related. They both have very silky black coats, they both have siamese heads, they both have a white splotch on their navel, Cinder has a white star on his chest and Mr. Peterson has a white lightning bolt on her chest. The only difference (apart from an astonishing difference in volume) is that Mr. Peterson sometimes has gold eyes, whereas Cinder has green, however Mr. Peterson's eyes were green when she was first found and they switch back and forth. Regardless, I assure you that Cinder has not the equipment to create another kitten.
|\ _,,,---,,_ Mr Peterson T. Cat /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ |,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' '---''(_/--' `-'\_) Daveola of GD & MH
