Our Junior year of college, Gal's friend contacted her to inform her that her cat had a surprise litter of kittens and wondered if Gal would like one. Gal and I were still dating at this point, and she lived in a set of campus apartments which didn't have regular housing inspections. Gal went ahead and picked the one female kitten out of the litter and brought her home. After a brief period we decided to name her due to her resemblance to the good gremlin out of the movie Gremlins. She was a spunky kitten, with lots of energy and a penchant for playing hard. We figured that she would outgrow the hard play with age and become a wonderful lap cat*.
After a while, it became obvious that something was truly wrong with Gizmo's attitude. She was more than happy to terrorize anyone who came into contact with her, from her owner to any random guest. Even after we were married, she continued to be snarky and do whatever she wanted. We initially joked that she might be possessed, but this joke eventually became a literal descriptor. People would stare when we introduced her as Gizmo, our demon-cat. But at least we weren't alone: we discovered that we were the only original owners to have kept our cat from that particular litter. All of the other kittens' owners were eventually forced to give their cats to other, more tolerant owners due to attitude issues. Examples of her actions include:
1. Playing (very) rough: Some cats use teeth and claws for play. She used hers for pain compliance. Gal and I both have scars from those precious first years.
2. Doing whatever the h*ll she wanted: not just ignoring us, but blatantly doing what she knew she wasn't supposed to. Like chewing on wires. If one of us got onto her from across the room for chewing, she would look right at us, maintain eye contact, and slowly reach back down to chew on whatever it was again.**
3. Vengeance seeking: Even if she knew she was wrong, there was spite for her being reprimanded. She would stalk off to some dark part of the apartment and wait. Once someone (anyone) passed by, she would leap out and latch onto the victim's limb with claws and begin hard-nipping their appendage. If she sensed fear after we reprimanded her, she would advance and corner whoever had reprimanded her, then seek her revenge as noted above.
Since moving to another apartment with more room, her attitude has improved immensly. We realized that space is the key motivator to her terroristic activities. She no longer hides underneath furniture with the express purpose of causing bodily harm. She doesn't chew wires incessantly. Adding other pets to the mix has given her other creatures to torture, so the burden of chew toy is now off Gal and I.
All things aside, she can be a good cat. When we get up in the morning or if she has been left alone while we're at work/school, she is the first pet to seek our attention by rubbing our legs and begging for a pet. Gal swears Gizmo loves me to death (maybe literally) because I'm the only person who can pick her up, flip her onto her back, and cuddle her like one does a baby. Occasionally she will sleep on the bed with us (secondary motivator: it's usually cold in the apartment, but we take what love we can get).
Many things have changed for Gizmo's family dynamics, but some things will always be the same: Gal informed me the other day that she tried to instigate play time with Gizmo, but the cat took this to be rough play. This ended with Gal cornered in the kitchen by a cat thrashing her tail and having to quickly flee to the upstairs bedroom before being attacked. All I could do was laugh.
I couldn't help myself after I found this poster maker app.
*read: fools
** as a matter of fact, while I write this post I have to constantly adjust the position of the speaker wire for the computer's external speaker system. Why? Because small, cat-sized chew marks all along the length of the wire cause the right speaker to short in and out depending on the cord's positioning.
-Guy
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