My Calico Swirl Mean Girl

Most of my cats are female.  And that means I live in the midst of a feline version of "Mean Girls."  And every pack of Mean Girls needs an alpha - in my case, a Top Cat.

My Top Cat is Lillie-Belle.  My petite muted calico, my girlie-girl Lillie-Belle is Rizzo in Grease, she's Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days.  She's my little one-eyed tough girl from the wrong side of the tracks, my felonious feline.

Lillie-Belle purrs like a locomotive, cuddles like a cougar.  And she chases down any cat (or small dog) that looks at her funny, or sits where Lillie-Belle wants to sit. Or lays where Lillie-Belle wants to lay.

She will swat another cat from my pillow, or use her mean girl squint to scare another from my lap. 

But Lillie-Belle saves her soft side for me.  It's almost like there are two Lillie-Belle's living here.  One's a mean girl, one's a calico swirl.  I'm just glad that I get the calico swirl, my little pearly girl.  Because frankly, I don't want to be the recipient of her scary mean girl squint.

Shh, It's Lillie-Belle - Don't Tell!

 

Lillie-Belle is an ultimate snuggler.  Regular snuggling and cuddling is just not enough for Lillie-Belle.  She needs to sleep smashed against my side, or draped across my chest.  Or best of all, beneath the covers.

Often I find that Lillie-Belle has somehow gotten under the covers and is in a most precarious position that negates my being able to move an inch.  One minute she's somewhere on my bed, and the next she is deeply embedded under the covers.  I don't see her do it, I don't hear her do it, I don't feel her do it.  But somehow she does it.

So LB snuggles quietly, softly beneath the covers, and I sound asleep beside her.  Until the quiet is pierced by a Twink or a Little Mess, looking for their own sleeping spot, bounding across the bed toward a coveted spot by my side and landing squarely upon LB.

I want to say at that moment - shh - it's just Lillie-Belle.  But the other cats wouldn't hear me over the shrieking and caterwauling.

And when the dust settles, Lille-Belle stealthily sneaks back under the covers.  Don't tell, she seems to be saying to me - they'll find out when they step here.

Lillie-Belle's Swell

Lillie-Belle is one of those really swell cats.  In fact she's so swell she's known by several names - Little Button, Little Bean, or just plain LB.

Lillie-Belle almost never stops purring.  She purrs while she eats, she purrs while she drinks, she purrs while she sleeps. She purrs while she purrs.  And loudly!  I sometimes have to turn the tv up so I can hear it over the purring.

As far as getting along with the others, cats yes (except for Little Mess, probably jealous of her looks), dogs no. Lillie-Belle does not do dogs. 

I've always thought Opie has a mad cat crush on LB.  Silently he watches her, stealthily he follows her, even stalks her.  There is an old-fashioned genteel charm about Lillie-Belle, almost a prissiness.  She's always thought she was just a little bit better than the others.  Not in a snobby way, just a knowing way.


You can just tell, Lillie-Belle's swell.