Show & Tell: The Furry and The Not-So-Furry

For this week's Show & Tell, I thought I would share pictures of our own little menagerie. (Technically, I can't call them my "furbabies" because only one has fur.) The first picture below is of our Sphynx cats, Serenity and Celerity. Serenity is on the right (with the white on her face), and she is Celerity's mother. Contrary to what you may think if you saw the Friends episode where Rachel got rid of a Sphynx because it was so mean, they are really sweet, loving and social. Our house is not one where the cats hide under a bed when we have guests over; if there is action, these two want to be involved. We frequently describe them as dogs in cat-suits.


They aren't completely hairless; both have small tufts of fur behind their ears and on their noses. Their bodies are covered in a soft peachfuzz. They have really high metabolisms and are known to sneak food out of the sink, if there are any dirty plates lying around. Celerity in particular is a talented food thief; she once stole a stalk of asparagus off my plate when I wasn't looking. I had to chase her through the whole house to get it back (I wasn't sure whether asparagus would be okay for her to eat).


We also have a two year-old Scottish Terrier named Riddick. C and I were concerned about how Riddick would interact with the cats when we first brought him home. He set the right tone by immediately laying down and showing submission to them. (For a Scottie, we thought that was pretty unusual.) Of course, once he settled in, we had a few "puppy" moments where he wanted to play and the cats weren't so enthused. I quickly lost my fear that he might hurt the cats, and instead realized that they could easily hurt him. (They aren't declawed.) All in all though, my fears proved unfounded, and now it's not unusual to see Celerity and Riddick curled up on the couch together.



Serenity and Riddick hit a rough patch in their relationship early on - I was giving Serenity her weekly bath, and foolishly left the door open so I could hear if Riddick got up to anything he shouldn't. (Side note: since Sphynxes don't have fur to take the oil off their skin, they need weekly baths.) I was kneeling beside the tub, lathering the cat up, when Riddick came running in and leapt over me. He landed on the soapy cat, who went underwater and then bolted out of the tub and into the living room. Riddick took off after her. If the cats are dogs in cat-suits, then Riddick is a dog who thinks he's a cat. He tried to jump from the back of the loveseat onto the kitchen island; being sopping wet, he wasn't quite able to make it, but it was hysterical to watch.


So that's our little zoo! Now go see what the rest of the class brought. Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!