Sir Lancelot's father did a lot of traveling in 1994. One day while flying around the country, he bumped into our family doctor. In those days there were often open seats and so our doctor and Boyd sat together on that leg of the trip. During the trip, the doctor mentioned that he and his wife raised Himalayan cats. Boyd, loving cats, got interested and told the doctor how much he adored cats. So the doctor said he would give us a Himalayan kitten. Boyd came home so excited with the news. I just rolled my eyes and told him not to hold his breath. Secretly in my heart, I didn't want a kitten. We had three outdoor cats that I loved and wasn't ready for another cat. Especially one that would need to be a house cat.
Then about 2 months later one Saturday morning my telephone rang. I answered and a man on the other end said, "Is this the Boyd Young residence, if so I am bringing you a kitten this afternoon and I need directions". I was so surprised and began to be somewhat excited. But Dennis, my yellow tom, was still my heart and I wasn't sure I could get close to a kitten. But that afternoon, true to his word, the doctor and his wife showed up with the most precious blue eyed kitten. He was about 3 months old and terrified because he missed his siblings and mother. But even then he was a heart stealer, and not just one heart but two, Mama's and Daddy's.
The doctor's wife said she never gave a kitten to a home that she didn't check in on later to make sure it was being cared for properly. They had brought a special kitten dry food and instructions on how to raise a healthy Himalayan.
I named him Sir Lancelot because I said he was my little knight in shining armor. He always lived up to his name.
A couple of days went by and Boyd said that baby isn't eating that hard dry food. I cooked a pan of cornbread, crumbled it in milk and Lance went wild with delight. He always had wet food after that and dry food out just in case. In his first years of life, he go so he would only eat Fancy Feast minced beef. Boyd said put something else out and leave it, he'll eat something different. He didn't. After a day and a half, I put out his minced beef. We moved from TX to TN in 1996 and we took 17 cases of FF minced beef with us just in case TN didn't have his favorite food. I figured I could get back to TX for more before he ate up 17 cases of 24 cans to a case and he only ate one can a day.
Later in his older years, he did favor a variety of flavors of Fancy Feast and often asked his Dad to buy him the factory.
Sir Lancelot was NEVER a lap cat, he might come sit in the chair or sofa next to you but pick him up for a lap hug and he was out of there! Lance's favorite way to be loved was to get what we called twisted spine disease, front paws to the left, right legs to the right. He would then hold up his front legs for scratching, usually just out of reach so you had to get up and go to him.
Lance loved a full body massage. That's when I would scratch his entire body from tail to ears. He always stopped just inside the door after I let him in from a morning of frolicking outdoors for his "full body massage".
Sir Lancelot was a very intelligent and smart cat. (Don't all mothers think that about their babies?) But it's true. He learned our words and their meaning and actually responded to them, such as din din (his favorite word), no (his most hated word), bed (Boyd would say that and Lance would follow him to the bedroom for a long night's snooze), out (later when we had a secure fence that he couldn't get out and nothing could get in, he was allowed to go out a few hours a day), in (when I wanted him back in the house, he would come 98% of the time, he wasn't perfect..smiles), too hot (meaning it was too hot outside, he would look disgusted), too cold (same meaning, same action), too dark (no going out when it was pitch black, same action) pee pee (we would tell him that just before a trip, ‘cause he WAS holding it until we got stopped for the night). No way would Lance use his litter box on a trip. We would try everything.
Lance was really a considerate cat. Now I know what you are thinking but it's true. I could say, "Where's mama's little love?" and he would come out for me to see him and then he would go back to whatever he was doing, again 98% of the time.
He never would hurt anything (except bite his Dad during grooming). I once caught him a butterfly and hours later I let it fly out of the window. He only wanted to pat it. Once he killed a green lizard I caught for him but we said the lizard was loved to death because he just rubbed his head on it. I think it died of fright. Once we had mice in our back yard, he would sit and watch them go get bird seed but never chased them.
Lance was truly a remarkable cat, just ask anyone who knew him!
Then about 2 months later one Saturday morning my telephone rang. I answered and a man on the other end said, "Is this the Boyd Young residence, if so I am bringing you a kitten this afternoon and I need directions". I was so surprised and began to be somewhat excited. But Dennis, my yellow tom, was still my heart and I wasn't sure I could get close to a kitten. But that afternoon, true to his word, the doctor and his wife showed up with the most precious blue eyed kitten. He was about 3 months old and terrified because he missed his siblings and mother. But even then he was a heart stealer, and not just one heart but two, Mama's and Daddy's.
The doctor's wife said she never gave a kitten to a home that she didn't check in on later to make sure it was being cared for properly. They had brought a special kitten dry food and instructions on how to raise a healthy Himalayan.
I named him Sir Lancelot because I said he was my little knight in shining armor. He always lived up to his name.
A couple of days went by and Boyd said that baby isn't eating that hard dry food. I cooked a pan of cornbread, crumbled it in milk and Lance went wild with delight. He always had wet food after that and dry food out just in case. In his first years of life, he go so he would only eat Fancy Feast minced beef. Boyd said put something else out and leave it, he'll eat something different. He didn't. After a day and a half, I put out his minced beef. We moved from TX to TN in 1996 and we took 17 cases of FF minced beef with us just in case TN didn't have his favorite food. I figured I could get back to TX for more before he ate up 17 cases of 24 cans to a case and he only ate one can a day.
Later in his older years, he did favor a variety of flavors of Fancy Feast and often asked his Dad to buy him the factory.
Sir Lancelot was NEVER a lap cat, he might come sit in the chair or sofa next to you but pick him up for a lap hug and he was out of there! Lance's favorite way to be loved was to get what we called twisted spine disease, front paws to the left, right legs to the right. He would then hold up his front legs for scratching, usually just out of reach so you had to get up and go to him.
Lance loved a full body massage. That's when I would scratch his entire body from tail to ears. He always stopped just inside the door after I let him in from a morning of frolicking outdoors for his "full body massage".
Sir Lancelot was a very intelligent and smart cat. (Don't all mothers think that about their babies?) But it's true. He learned our words and their meaning and actually responded to them, such as din din (his favorite word), no (his most hated word), bed (Boyd would say that and Lance would follow him to the bedroom for a long night's snooze), out (later when we had a secure fence that he couldn't get out and nothing could get in, he was allowed to go out a few hours a day), in (when I wanted him back in the house, he would come 98% of the time, he wasn't perfect..smiles), too hot (meaning it was too hot outside, he would look disgusted), too cold (same meaning, same action), too dark (no going out when it was pitch black, same action) pee pee (we would tell him that just before a trip, ‘cause he WAS holding it until we got stopped for the night). No way would Lance use his litter box on a trip. We would try everything.
Lance was really a considerate cat. Now I know what you are thinking but it's true. I could say, "Where's mama's little love?" and he would come out for me to see him and then he would go back to whatever he was doing, again 98% of the time.
He never would hurt anything (except bite his Dad during grooming). I once caught him a butterfly and hours later I let it fly out of the window. He only wanted to pat it. Once he killed a green lizard I caught for him but we said the lizard was loved to death because he just rubbed his head on it. I think it died of fright. Once we had mice in our back yard, he would sit and watch them go get bird seed but never chased them.
Lance was truly a remarkable cat, just ask anyone who knew him!
Sir Lancelot's father did a lot of traveling in 1994. One day while flying around the country, he bumped into our family doctor. In those days there were often open seats and so our doctor and Boyd sat together on that leg of the trip. During the trip, the doctor mentioned that he and his wife raised Himalayan cats. Boyd, loving cats, got interested and told the doctor how much he adored cats. So the doctor said he would give us a Himalayan kitten. Boyd came home so excited with the news. I just rolled my eyes and told him not to hold his breath. Secretly in my heart, I didn't want a kitten. We had three outdoor cats that I loved and wasn't ready for another cat. Especially one that would need to be a house cat.
Then about 2 months later one Saturday morning my telephone rang. I answered and a man on the other end said, "Is this the Boyd Young residence, if so I am bringing you a kitten this afternoon and I need directions". I was so surprised and began to be somewhat excited. But Dennis, my yellow tom, was still my heart and I wasn't sure I could get close to a kitten. But that afternoon, true to his word, the doctor and his wife showed up with the most precious blue eyed kitten. He was about 3 months old and terrified because he missed his siblings and mother. But even then he was a heart stealer, and not just one heart but two, Mama's and Daddy's.
The doctor's wife said she never gave a kitten to a home that she didn't check in on later to make sure it was being cared for properly. They had brought a special kitten dry food and instructions on how to raise a healthy Himalayan.
I named him Sir Lancelot because I said he was my little knight in shining armor. He always lived up to his name.
A couple of days went by and Boyd said that baby isn't eating that hard dry food. I cooked a pan of cornbread, crumbled it in milk and Lance went wild with delight. He always had wet food after that and dry food out just in case. In his first years of life, he go so he would only eat Fancy Feast minced beef. Boyd said put something else out and leave it, he'll eat something different. He didn't. After a day and a half, I put out his minced beef. We moved from TX to TN in 1996 and we took 17 cases of FF minced beef with us just in case TN didn't have his favorite food. I figured I could get back to TX for more before he ate up 17 cases of 24 cans to a case and he only ate one can a day.
Later in his older years, he did favor a variety of flavors of Fancy Feast and often asked his Dad to buy him the factory.
Sir Lancelot was NEVER a lap cat, he might come sit in the chair or sofa next to you but pick him up for a lap hug and he was out of there! Lance's favorite way to be loved was to get what we called twisted spine disease, front paws to the left, right legs to the right. He would then hold up his front legs for scratching, usually just out of reach so you had to get up and go to him.
Lance loved a full body massage. That's when I would scratch his entire body from tail to ears. He always stopped just inside the door after I let him in from a morning of frolicking outdoors for his "full body massage".
Sir Lancelot was a very intelligent and smart cat. (Don't all mothers think that about their babies?) But it's true. He learned our words and their meaning and actually responded to them, such as din din (his favorite word), no (his most hated word), bed (Boyd would say that and Lance would follow him to the bedroom for a long night's snooze), out (later when we had a secure fence that he couldn't get out and nothing could get in, he was allowed to go out a few hours a day), in (when I wanted him back in the house, he would come 98% of the time, he wasn't perfect..smiles), too hot (meaning it was too hot outside, he would look disgusted), too cold (same meaning, same action), too dark (no going out when it was pitch black, same action) pee pee (we would tell him that just before a trip, ‘cause he WAS holding it until we got stopped for the night). No way would Lance use his litter box on a trip. We would try everything.
Lance was really a considerate cat. Now I know what you are thinking but it's true. I could say, "Where's mama's little love?" and he would come out for me to see him and then he would go back to whatever he was doing, again 98% of the time.
He never would hurt anything (except bite his Dad during grooming). I once caught him a butterfly and hours later I let it fly out of the window. He only wanted to pat it. Once he killed a green lizard I caught for him but we said the lizard was loved to death because he just rubbed his head on it. I think it died of fright. Once we had mice in our back yard, he would sit and watch them go get bird seed but never chased them.
Lance was truly a remarkable cat, just ask anyone who knew him!
Then about 2 months later one Saturday morning my telephone rang. I answered and a man on the other end said, "Is this the Boyd Young residence, if so I am bringing you a kitten this afternoon and I need directions". I was so surprised and began to be somewhat excited. But Dennis, my yellow tom, was still my heart and I wasn't sure I could get close to a kitten. But that afternoon, true to his word, the doctor and his wife showed up with the most precious blue eyed kitten. He was about 3 months old and terrified because he missed his siblings and mother. But even then he was a heart stealer, and not just one heart but two, Mama's and Daddy's.
The doctor's wife said she never gave a kitten to a home that she didn't check in on later to make sure it was being cared for properly. They had brought a special kitten dry food and instructions on how to raise a healthy Himalayan.
I named him Sir Lancelot because I said he was my little knight in shining armor. He always lived up to his name.
A couple of days went by and Boyd said that baby isn't eating that hard dry food. I cooked a pan of cornbread, crumbled it in milk and Lance went wild with delight. He always had wet food after that and dry food out just in case. In his first years of life, he go so he would only eat Fancy Feast minced beef. Boyd said put something else out and leave it, he'll eat something different. He didn't. After a day and a half, I put out his minced beef. We moved from TX to TN in 1996 and we took 17 cases of FF minced beef with us just in case TN didn't have his favorite food. I figured I could get back to TX for more before he ate up 17 cases of 24 cans to a case and he only ate one can a day.
Later in his older years, he did favor a variety of flavors of Fancy Feast and often asked his Dad to buy him the factory.
Sir Lancelot was NEVER a lap cat, he might come sit in the chair or sofa next to you but pick him up for a lap hug and he was out of there! Lance's favorite way to be loved was to get what we called twisted spine disease, front paws to the left, right legs to the right. He would then hold up his front legs for scratching, usually just out of reach so you had to get up and go to him.
Lance loved a full body massage. That's when I would scratch his entire body from tail to ears. He always stopped just inside the door after I let him in from a morning of frolicking outdoors for his "full body massage".
Sir Lancelot was a very intelligent and smart cat. (Don't all mothers think that about their babies?) But it's true. He learned our words and their meaning and actually responded to them, such as din din (his favorite word), no (his most hated word), bed (Boyd would say that and Lance would follow him to the bedroom for a long night's snooze), out (later when we had a secure fence that he couldn't get out and nothing could get in, he was allowed to go out a few hours a day), in (when I wanted him back in the house, he would come 98% of the time, he wasn't perfect..smiles), too hot (meaning it was too hot outside, he would look disgusted), too cold (same meaning, same action), too dark (no going out when it was pitch black, same action) pee pee (we would tell him that just before a trip, ‘cause he WAS holding it until we got stopped for the night). No way would Lance use his litter box on a trip. We would try everything.
Lance was really a considerate cat. Now I know what you are thinking but it's true. I could say, "Where's mama's little love?" and he would come out for me to see him and then he would go back to whatever he was doing, again 98% of the time.
He never would hurt anything (except bite his Dad during grooming). I once caught him a butterfly and hours later I let it fly out of the window. He only wanted to pat it. Once he killed a green lizard I caught for him but we said the lizard was loved to death because he just rubbed his head on it. I think it died of fright. Once we had mice in our back yard, he would sit and watch them go get bird seed but never chased them.
Lance was truly a remarkable cat, just ask anyone who knew him!
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