Snuff and Hadj (or Are you sure I don't have fleas?)

Some time ago I promised to post pictures of the rest of the cats who let me live here and serve them. Probably the one people hear the most about but see the least is my sleeping buddy, Snuffy. His full name is Snufflawfulus because of his chronic upper respiratory problem which has cost me a fortune to treat and try to alleviate. Snuff is on medication, an antihistamine and prednisone, and has been for most of his little life. Most of the time he is a sweet, quiet guy, sleeping away in one of his favorite places. But, every once in a while, he has to show the other 4 leggeds he is the boss. He IS Alpha Kitty. And don’t ever forget it.
Rascal loves to play. His idea of playing is growling, yowling, biting, kicking, stalking, attacking, tackling, and generally playing as any kitten will play. Rascal has no idea he is now too old to be behaving this way, so he just goes on. His favorite victim is either Hadji or my hand. If he gets too rough with me, according to Alpha Cat, Snuffy will jump down off his sofa and pounce on Rascal’s back, biting into his neck, flattening him onto the floor. When Rascal tries to get away, Snuff cuffs him upside the head and gets back on his couch. You can almost see him dusting his hands off as he settles back down for another nap.
Snuff won’t admit it, but he learned from watching Rascal to be a lap kitty. Yep, it took him 6 years to learn to get up onto my lap. And god help you-know-who if he should even think of getting up there at the same time.
Snuffy was a dumpster baby, brought to the SPCA, where they would have put him to sleep because of his “cold” symptoms. Instead, I took him (and Hadji) to the vet and there he remained for most of the next 3 months while we tried to “cure” him of whatever it was he had. Finally we just gave up and brought him home taking him back to the vet once a month for shots to help him breathe.
Along the way, Snuffy has had 2 cancer surgeries and has spent a serious bit of time with a specialist in Salisbury. One treatment triggered seizures, and so I switched vets. I was not willing to put him on anti-seizure meds when I believed the meds he was on caused the seizures. We switched meds, and he has not had a seizure in years. Did I mention he sneezes a lot? Did I mention he sneezes A LOT? But that is a good thing. When he is unable to sneeze, he is unable to breathe, therefore unable to eat, even drink. I have to drip water in his little mouth to keep him hydrated. He will get in one spot, usually a certain bed in a corner of the living room and stay there for as many as 3 days. It is scary. Finally he sneezes and all is well again for a while. Or as well as it gets for Snuff.

Snuffy begs at the table. We always save him a bite. He begs at the sink while I am preparing vegetables or fixing fruit. Why he thinks he has to have a string bean or asparagus stalk, I do not know. He really does not play with them, he just has to have one. He loves spaghetti sauce, baked beans, and strawberry yogurt! Snuff does not know how to drink like other cats, or maybe he just is unable to lap water from a bowl. Whatever the reason, he “eats” his water by sticking his entire lower jaw under the water so it gets filled. He swallows and repeats this, shaking his head to spray the universe when he is done. He also shakes his head when he eats spraying tiny bits of food all over the floor.
He comes when called or, believe it or not, when he hears his pill bottle open. He knows. He sleeps on my feet or legs for most of the night. When he hears the early morning bird sounds, he jumps up in his hammock, sticks his head thru the curtains and checks out the morning entertainment. If Hadji gets scared by something, thunder, a noisy raccoon, whatever, and decides to hide under my bed, Snuffy will, at some point, jump on him, smack him around, and in general let him know he does not belong in his house after I have gone to bed. Hadji and Rascal sleep in the big bathroom.

I am sure you can figure out why Rascal is “locked” up at night, but Hadji? Well, Hadj snores, for one thing. Yep, even louder than Snuff. And his sleeping place is ON MY HEAD or at least on my pillow. His purr can be heard across the street, and he headbutts to get me to scratch something. One does not get much sleep with Hadji around. so, Snuffy beats him up to get him out of my hair, literally.
Hadj is a good old boy, bigger than the others, and has a good temperament. He talks. Anna says he must be part Siamese. He complains about Rascal, mostly. He likes to get up on the back of my chair while I am watching TV. Sometimes he looks thru my hair and chews on imaginary fleas. God, I hope they are imaginary fleas. Sometimes I feel like a monkey being groomed. A friend had another theory. (a friend?) She said he was using my hair to floss with. Thanks!
Hadji loves his cube. It is his refuge. He and Rascal often play, Hadji in, Rascal out.

Anyway, there are the inside cats, in all their glory. Rascal says this is so boring. We all know he is the Star around here. He is selling autographed pictures on eBay. His sunbeam picture got a 9.8 on the other blog. He says it should have been a perfect 10. He dares the person who had the audacity to give him a 9 to show his face around here!

This is how bored the Rascal is. He has such a rough life, doesn't he? See the Rascal sulk? OH, poor, poor baby!