Our Feline Man of Mystery

Hard to believe it’s been 20 years since Austin Powers hit our screens as the International Man of Mystery … well, now we have our very own Feline Man of Mystery: Seth.

We adopted our big boy Seth in June last year, and were told that he was five years old which means he has already had a life full of adventures and experiences. The animal shelter was able to give us some of his back story, but really, it’s all a bit of  a mystery.

Here’s what we do know:

• Seth is originally from Tasmania and was brought to sunny Queensland by his first family. They must have loved him a lot to have gone to the trouble of bringing him along when they shifted so far!
• However, they couldn’t find accommodation which allowed pets, and so in January last year he was surrendered to the pound. I can only imagine how devastating that must have been for them.

• He definitely seems to feel the heat (which seems to confirm the Tasmanian story), and likes to plop in front of a fan or air conditioner. And when I turn the air conditioning off, he gives me the dirtiest look!

Over the past seven months, we’ve also picked up several clues which hint at his past life:

• He has formed a strong attachment to our Mr 22 despite the best efforts of myself and Miss 20 to make him “ours”. So we are guessing that he was originally from a household with teenage boys or young men.

• He loves being thrown over your shoulder for cuddles, and doesn’t mind being picked up (unlike Miss Fleur who tolerates it with me only, and complains bitterly even then after about 30 seconds or so).

• His not-so-pleasant little habit of spraying indicates to us that he was desexed comparatively recently, rather than as a kitten.
• He loves being outside and has clearly been raised as a cat that was allowed outdoors. Although as a rule I believe it is best for kitties to be kept indoors only, we have discovered it is not so easy to convince a cat of this if he is used to enjoying the garden.
• Oh, and he LOVES to climb – perhaps he was an acrobat or a fire fighter in a former life?

Seth does seem to have developed some abandonment issues – he exhibits signs of anxiety at times, although Feliway has helped immensely. He also likes to be near people all the time as if he is worried they will disappear. This is very different to Fleur, who is quite happy to do her own thing and spends a lot of her time (by choice) in the “kitty chiller” aka our cat patio.

If only cats could talk! I’d love to know more about our own Feline Man of Mystery … imagine the stories he could tell …