Misha - Cantankerous Old Girl

I know many Calico cats, and none lives up to their bad reputation like this one. Misha came to us 9 years ago, at 6 years of age, when her owner was moving to Europe. She was so evil that she attacked us when we fed her. Forget about trimming her nails (she is polydactyl with 7 on each front & 6 on each hind paw) - it took 3-4 years for that to occur without bodily harm to us.

Over the years she has mellowed a bit. She no longer attacks us routinely, and she eventually grew to tolerate our dog. But she has never learned to tolerate cats, and therefore by her own choice, rarely leaves our bedroom. She has kidney failure, but we cannot medicate her. So her only treatment has been having 2 water bowls, which she empties on a regular basis. I told her years ago that the only geriatric cat disease she was permitted to get was hyperthyroidism because 1 injection of radioactive iodine and a 1 week stay in isolation and she'd be good to go. But no, Misha had to be rebellious, as always. Cats persistently amaze me in their ability to do well with renal failure for years at a time. Misha has certainly been a good example. So stubborn, so mean, she just wants to make it last as long as possible! She's the oldest cat we have ever had and certainly the most cantankerous. That's probably why she's the oldest.

And I do love her. I love cranky old cats. They are my favorite!