Mr. Magoo….we love you…

 We thought we’d introduce you to one of our “unsung” l’il guys…Mr. Magoo.  He came to us completely by accident, and wasn’t even meant to stay.   It happened about three years ago.  We received a call from a friend/colleauge at an animal rescue site, informing us there was a fire at a nearby apartment.  The old lady who lived there was put out, unable to take care of her cat.  Would we mind fostering him?  Well, at this point, I think we had “only” six or seven, so we said “why not?” and took him in.

    Later the next day, a young man came by with a cat carrier and opened it up.  A thin but otherwise healthy looking tabby came out, looked around, and immediately made himself a home in the corner of the bathttub!  It was pretty apparent he was scared, reluctant to come out even to eat.  We were told his name was “Sleepy”, but we soon learned that was a HUGE misnomer.  More on that later. Still, we didn’t like Sleepy so we called him Eliot for the moment.

    Scared and confused, it was only a few days later the poor guy escaped. We stayed one step behind, last hearing Eliot was spotted in a neighbors’ stairwell.  Where said neighbor promptly soaked the cat with a bucket of water.  Nice, eh?  What a jerk.  Eventually we were sadly resigned to the fact Eliot was gone and wasn’t coming ba…oh wait, here he is!  Seriously, he came back and was like a new cat, as though he’d realized after only a few days he had it pretty good here, and better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

     We bandied about a few names for our new tabby, because Sleepy just wasn’t gonna cut it and Eliot just didn’t fit. Especially when he was one of the most playful cats we ever knew.  He never missed an opportunity to chase a string or watch the birds out the window.  We figured he must have had nothing to do at his previous address, so maybe all he did was sleep.   So once we tossed those names out, we focused on his most obvious physical characteristic.  His big, super crossed eyes!!  Mr. Magoo just seemed like a natural fit after that.  And he’s so sweet.   An absolute love who can’t get enough of Amy’s lap or my back if I’m laying on me tum-tum.   And he has a wonderful little “inside” meow that sounds like a pigeon cooing. I’m sure many of you have cats that make those kinds of sounds rather than outright meowing. Mr. Magoo makes his sound a lot and sometimes he’s quite loud and goes on cooing and trilling for a long time…especially in the middle of the night when we’re trying to sleep!

 He’s also become quite sociable with the other cats, especially Lola.  Many nights find him and Lola cleaning each other on the bed in the space between my legs.  And it’s all nice nice until cleaning time turns to play time, then all of a sudden my legs have become a wresting mat!  But seeing as Mr. Magoo is really the only cat who can come close to matching Lola’s energy, we’re not about to let things end a moment before they need to, giving them every opportunity to tucker themselves out!

Of course, no cat is “normal”, and Mr. Magoo is no exception. We got him fixed years ago, but he still, on an almost daily basis, has “relations” with one of the little decorative blankets we keep on the bed. It’s kind of funny, really, as his little body moves in circles, his hips thrusting with spastic intensity!  It’s a little weird and funny as all get out, and we have no idea what makes him do it!

    Often I pass Mr. Magoo while he’s sleeping on one of the beds on our fireplace mantle and mutter “oh, to have all Mr. Magoo’s”.  He’s never fussy, never asks to be fed, just finds and eats what’s there and is happy to have it. With a few exceptions. If you’re eating potato chips or Doritos or drinking coffee or (heaven forbid) enjoying ice cream or anything chocolate, he’s on you like white on rice! Of course we don’t let him have any chocolate, but we occasionally indulge his sweet tooth with some vanilla ice cream. Mr. Magoo seems to have a real hankering for carbohydrates: he adores pancakes, won’t leave if there’s any pound cake in the vicinity and thinks there’s nothing better than a baked potato! It’s all he ever asks for, just a few carbs!  What it is about coffee that makes him try and stick his nose in our cups is just another one of those cat mysteries, we reckon!

It didn’t take long for us to realize Mr. Magoo was no foster cat. He was one of ours, no ifs ands or butts! He’s the most easy going, loving and quiet cat that you just might overlook him.  That’s why we make it a point not to.

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