| Meet Teddy |
Teddy Azulito was a twinkle in his pet mom’s eye as long as 25 years ago. That’s when Suzanne attended a cat show in New York, returned home and researched cat personalities. “I read that Burmese cats were the ‘clowns of the cat world,’” she recalls. “They are playful, sweet-tempered, curious, friendly and outgoing. They get along well with animals and people.” But at the time, she says, “I could not afford a pedigreed cat.”
Shelter Cats to the Rescue
Instead of purchasing a Burmese, Suzanne adopted two wonderful rescue cats. “When my favorite cat passed away at 16 years old, my husband suggested I finally look into getting the Burmese cat I always wanted. So I did.”
"I read that Burmese cats were
the clowns of the cat world."
Suzanne was so pleased with her first Burmese that two years later, she brought home his half-brother, Teddy Azulito.
Teddy, Stuffed Animal Enthusiast
“Teddy is a blue Burmese,” says Suzanne, “and Azulito means ‘little blue one’ in Spanish.” But despite his small size, Teddy was a one-kitten destroyer of plush toys. “As a kitten,” Suzanne remembers, “Teddy had a thing for carrying stuffed animals around the house in his mouth, usually with a firm bite hold around the throat.
"I eventually had to put all my
stuffed animals in my closet because
Teddy would attack them, rough
them up and carry them off."
I gave him a few toys of his own, but he preferred my stuffed animals. I eventually had to put all my stuffed animals in my closet because Teddy would attack them, rough them up and carry them off to some secluded places around the house. Some of his toys were so destroyed that I had to sew them closed so that the stuffing would not come out.”
A Creature of TV Habit
“In the evening,” Suzanne says, “Teddy is especially fond of animal and bird programs on TV. He will sit in front of the TV, sometimes for 40 minutes, watching. He is attracted at first to the animal noises and bird calls. Sometimes he stretches up and pats the critters on the screen with his paws.”
"Teddy is especially fond of animal and
bird programs on TV. Sometimes he
stretches up and pats the critters
on the screen with his paws."
He may be fascinated with animals on television, but Teddy has no desire to meet the real things. “Teddy is an indoor cat and is very happy about that,” says Suzanne. He has no interest in going outdoors at all, and he will stay far away from an open door.” Besides, there’s plenty of trouble indoors for Teddy to get into. “Teddy is the kind of cat that is always exploring new possibilities,” explains Suzanne, “and he frequently gets himself in trouble.”
"Teddy is a klutz. Most cats are
very athletic and graceful;
Teddy did not inherit this gene."
The Grace of a Bull in a China Shop
“Coupled with his willful behavior,” Suzanne continues, “Teddy is a klutz. Most cats are very athletic and graceful; Teddy did not inherit this gene. Consequently, he has fallen into the toilet while trying to jump from the floor to the top of the tank. He jumps on the table and bumps his forehead into mine. A table set with wine glasses is just an obstacle course that he cannot negotiate without knocking a few over. More than a few times he has attempted to jump to the top of a large cabinet, only to smack face-first into the side about three-quarters of the way up.”
One time, Suzanne and her husband had company in the living room when they heard “a thunderous, ear drum-piercing crash followed by the sound of 100-plus glass marbles bouncing for what seemed like an eternity on the tiled kitchen floor.” The culprit was no surprise. “It could ONLY be Teddy!” exclaims Suzanne. “We had a large crystal vase filled with marbles on the mantelpiece in the kitchen. Despite the vase taking up the width of the mantelpiece, Teddy had jumped up and decided to go behind the vase to the other end. He knocked it off onto the tile floor, and he has never been up there since. For six weeks we were finding glass marbles in all the corners of the house.”
Teddy and BLUE
Suzanne began feeding her cats BLUE when she read an article that said some Burmese cats had a tendency to develop diabetes. “I started to compare the ingredients in various cat foods,” she says, “and I did not like the idea that corn was the major ingredient in most dry cat foods. I felt that this reliance on carbohydrates contributed to the development of obesity and diabetes in animals just as it does in humans. When I looked up Blue Buffalo on the internet, I was impressed with the emphasis on protein and complex carbs, blueberries, cranberries, sweet potatoes, oatmeal etc. I had no trouble switching from the old cat food to Blue Buffalo. The cats ate it right away.” Concerned that Teddy would easily put on weight because of his chunky build, Suzanne says, “I felt that Blue Buffalo would assist Teddy in maintaining his weight as he gets older. Because Blue Buffalo has quality ingredients, the cats actually eat less food quantity-wise, because they are getting better nutrition out of the smaller amount. Both boys are maintaining their weight.”
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