Bentley's mystic eyes

Ghost cat

We saw the strangest thing in the back yard! It appeared only for a moment, then vanished into thin air.

Who's that cat? It's Bentley!

We noticed early on that Bentley had a certain quality in front of the camera. He doesn't pose, of course - no cat would. It's something else. I don't remember our last cat (Murphy) being like this, though he was gorgeous in his 22-pound prime. 

The camera captures Bentley's inner as well as outer beauty. There's something a little sad about his eyes, which are very luminous and sometimes a bit scary. It's his "moon eyes" look, nearly all pupil, in which his eyes glow, oval and most un-catlike. 

Bentley will be cool to me sometimes, turn ass and ignore me the way cats do, and then, when I'm curled in a dark room to try to have a nap to make up for a crappy night, I will feel "something", someone bumping up against me, almost violently, then turning around and around to find the best place to snuggle. 

It's Bentley.

Cat loves music

Cat rescue: whiskers in the night!

 

The living saints at Canopy Cat Rescue have done it again, beguiling a scared little tuxedo (with white whiskers to die for) out of a high and scary place. I made these gifs out of a video that didn't quite fit my screen, and it's too bad they don't have sound, because the miaaaawwwws are plaintive and beseeching: translated, they'd say, "Get me the fxxx DOWN from here!"

Bentley does nothing. . . again

Bentley knows how beautiful he is, and yet he's modest about it. He is a gentleman cat. Bill and I agree he's special. There's just something about him. He knows when the camera is on him, and glimmers his eyes accordingly. He becomes Majestic. He would be great in commercials or something, because he knows how to work the angles, but we'd never let him. We're waiting for a feature film, with his name above the title.

Bentley and the spider!

                       
              The brave hunter vs. the enormous spider.

Cat squash

Cat beauty: Bentley in the window

Ready for his closeup. Can Bentley help it if he knows he's beautiful?

How to carry your cat in a car

            How to carry your cat in a car

Bentley Meows!

Bentley meows!  This is a statement as significant as "Garbo Talks". It may not mean a lot to you, but he meows about twice a month. He sort of purrs, but it sounds wheezy and a little pathetic. You can feel a slight vibration, mostly at the back of the neck. He wheezes once or twice, a sort of token purr, then stops.

We have wondered if his vocal cords were damaged when he was thrashed by a dog or coyote (he was a rescue, found near death at the side of the road after a vicious mauling). But then I read that some cats don't meow at all. I'd quote this, but I'm too tired and the quotes are kind of stupid. The fact he DOES meow, and purr (half-assed), means he's likely just a quiet cat.

Bentley in a box

                                Cat in a box.
 

Cat video with FOUR MILLION views!

Actually, it's more like 4,087,144. This video features ten seconds of a shaved cat scratching at the door of a vet clinic to get out. I've spent six or eight hours on posts before and gotten virtually NO views. It's the old left-out-of-the-playground thing, I guess - once a loser, always a loser, and there is no beating those dynamics, ever. They are with you for life, like a family curse. I have no reason to want views however - they would add nothing to my life! I know why I am doing this - because I want to.

A lot of people in the comments section claimed it's cruel to shave a cat. Maybe they're thinking of a cat running around all the time with no fur on it. This is actually called a lion cut, and both dogs and cats get it when their fur is matty, dirty, too thick or unruly.

I'll tell you about shaving our cat.

This was in the Murphy days, long ago. He was an enormous cat - 22 pounds at his maximum - with a woolly double coat, and as he aged it got matty and harder to groom or deal with. If I tried to help him with it, I was sliced and diced. Once I got bitten and needed a tetanus shot.

We started taking him to a groomer once a year where they would give him a bath and comb-out, but every year it got harder. Then one year they phoned me during a grooming and said,"Permission to shave him." They didn't call it a lion cut. They didn't call it anything, just shaving him. There was no other way to clean up his dense, woolly fur.

So they shaved him, and he came home looking like a poodle - but the first thing he did was flop down on the rug, purring, and roll back and forth. Then he groomed his back and tummy with an ecstatic look on his face. He got through that hot summer with an immaculate short coat, and by fall it was pristine and new. From then on, he grew himself a new fur coat once a year.

This will drive you NUTS!

Fur and purrs

Sweet-faced kitty in a tree

Pile o' paws

In a dark room, I can sometimes see these four white paws walking along with no cat attached to them. Or so it seems. When he lies down, Bentley's paws form a neat pile, white with pink toes. Sometimes they look more like gloves. Actually, his paws are FIVE colours: pink, white, grey, brown and black. Talented cat - eh?

And we wub hims so.

Can Bentley talk?

Bentley in the jungle

               The best cat ever, spending some time on my plant stand.

Cat attacks singing card.

It's Foolish Friday, I've been busy watching dance competitions most of the week, so here's this. Kitty makes short work of a most annoying gizmo.