George Ann

Have you ever tried to get a picture of an elusive cat? Georgie has been part of our family for almost 14 years now and getting a good picture of her is almost impossible. She is very shy except when it is time to eat and then we must pay strict attention to her. Pictures of her eating are not good pictures. Let me show some example of my latest efforts to photograph her:

"I will just turn my head this way!"

"This is a good time to turn and walk away."

"I will not hold my head up for you."

I was hoping to get a good picture and then to go on and tell about our latest adventure with her. Instead, we will just have to get along with regular old "I will not be photographed or seen" pictures.

George came to live with us in 1993 to be company for our dog Samantha or that was the logic used by our daughter to convince us we needed another pet. Sammie was 5 at the time and she and George developed a lifelong love-hate relationship. The dog was forever chasing the cat away and the cat was forever pestering the dog. But, when one was gone the other would cry or wait at the top of the stairs or by the door for the other's return. They were each jealous of the attention the other would get. This continued for over 12 years. Sam was 17 when we lost her. She left a huge hole in our hearts and in George's too.

Georgie is pretty smart and keeping a collar on her has been next to impossible whether it is a collar or a harness. In fact, when she was very young she figured out how to undo the dog's collar until we started getting Sammie collars that did not buckle. George can open almost any cabinet door and uses a cabinet as an excellent hiding spot.

George is getting older right along with the rest of us. When we started our cross-country move she was in the carrier right between us. Fortunately for all of us, Erica arranged to have George fly from Pocatello to Washington, DC with her. That was better for us and much better for the cat. When getting the certification we needed for George to fly we learned that she probably had diabetes. But we should wait until we were settled before proceeding with any treatment.

We started insulin treatments and hopefully this little cat will put on some much needed weight. She has been very loving since we moved here and since going on insulin she has gotten back her 'tude. That, I am not sure is a good thing.