The Cats Part 1: Jelly

For those of you that have ever wondered-yes, there was at one time a "Peanut Butter" to go with Jelly. The picture to the right is the only picture we have of Jelly as a kitten and the only that ever existed of Peanut Butter-who was never our cat anyway. When I was in Vet school I was a part of the Mule Club and the other members and I decided we should have some barn cats to help with the mice. One of our professors had recently adopted a pregnant cat and was quick to offer us our choice of kittens. Two adorable calicos were selected and the sisters were named-you guessed it-Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Initially we kept the kittens locked up in the tack room when we were not at the barn and then began letting them out more frequently. Shortly after this Peanut Butter disappeared and Jelly, who was the more wild of the two, became very friendly and dependent on people. So much so that she was following students around in the parking lot and there was a lot of concern that she would accidently get run over. The ruling finally came that the barn cat had to go. Although we had many offers to take her the mule club members decided that she should stay with a club officer and I was the only one in a position to take her. So Jelly came to live with us and be a pampered house cat.

At first Jelly was very much my cat. She would sit on my lap every day when I came home to study and eventually we would fall asleep on the couch. She slept on my pillow every night and would wake me up at 3AM almost every morning kneading my head. She has actually continued to sleep intermittently on my pillow for several years.

After I acquired a second and then a third dog Jelly became more of Jerry's cat. She likes to watch TV with him when the dogs are not home and every night jumps up on his side of the bed to be petted. Every house sitter we have ever had reports that Jelly is "the sweetest kitty ever" but as her veterinarian I can tell you that is very much not the truth. She is difficult to do anything too whether it be simple things like nail trimming and applying Revolution or more difficult prodecures like blood draws. This year when 3 people and a cat bag could not hold her down for her annual blood screen I had to anesthetize her! So the sweetest kitty ever-probably not, but when the house is quiet and she's in the mood-sure.

Jelly hides when company comes-until she's sure they are ok, she can train any dog on how to respect cats, her favorite toy is a red leg off a caterpillar the dogs used to have, and she loves to paw at the water in the bowl for no apparent reason. She also sits in a chair at the table at dinnertime (when we eat at the table, which is rare) and politely waits for her bite to be served!