Squinty had always been a cuddly cat, so it didn’t surprise Elly Zupko when he started snuggling against her pregnant belly.
“I think he enjoyed the warmth I was putting off, and my big cuddly belly,” Zupko told The Dodo. “He must have known something was changing, because we turned our home office into a nursery, but I don’t think he knew what to expect.”
Squinty was abandoned by his previous owners in 2003, and Zupko saved him.
His family had given him up to be put to sleep at a veterinary clinic where my then-boyfriend worked because they couldn’t afford the hip surgery he required, according to Zupko.
“Mango was the greatest cat my boyfriend had ever met, and this is coming from a qualified veterinary technician who deals with cats on a daily basis. To prevent Mango from being put down, we decided to pay for the operation in installments deducted from my [boyfriend’s] wages, and he moved in with me.
The cat got better — his hip healed up nicely, and he started moving around like a cat his age should.
“He’s fully mobile, but he has to take stairs one at a time,” Zupko said. “You’d hardly know he has anything wrong. We also realized a few years ago that he is deaf. It’s difficult to figure out a cat is deaf! For a long time, we just thought he was aloof and a deep sleeper. Turns out he couldn’t hear us.”
Zupko first changed Mango’s name to Steve. Then she started calling him Squinty because of the way he squinted at people, which Zupko thought of as his signature expression.
Zupko began to refer to him as Squinty, and Squinty established himself as a constant in his life.
Squinty has been a part of Zupko’s life for approximately 15 years. He has accompanied me on six moves. He has shared residence with seven different people, five other cats, and two dogs during the course of that period. Our other cat Trova, our dog Fibber, and my husband and I now share a home with him.
When Willow, Zupko’s daughter, was born, lots of people advised Zupko not to let Squinty or Trova near the baby.
“Plenty of superstitious family friends and relatives warned me that I had to be careful not to let the cats near the baby because they would ‘steal her breath,’” Zupko said.
“I never worried about that myth, but I had typical new-mom worries that the cats would get into the baby’s bassinet and disturb her sleeping, or accidentally scratch her.
After all, a bassinet is basically a big soft box and everyone knows what cats do with boxes. Squinty actually really liked to get into the crib, because he could look out through the slats and watch the dog, while feeling safe.”
However, when Squinty finally met Willow, Zupko understood she didn’t need to be concerned.
I held Willow and let the cats to approach and smell her at their own leisure, according to Zupko. “Trova, my second cat, had and still has no interest in her at all. Due to the fact that he formerly served as the family’s “baby,” I believe he is envious. Squinty want to get close to her right away.
This surprised Zupko. She’d expected him to be jealous like Trova.
“He’s actually kind of a bully to our other cat and our dog,” Zupko said. “I assumed he would see a baby as another ‘pet’ because she is small. I assumed he would probably be aloof or indifferent toward her. But he seems to have recognized her as a human.”
Whenever Squinty gets a chance, he cuddles up against Willow.
“Squinty started lying next to Willow from the first time I laid her next to me in my bed,” Zupko said. “But he really started truly spooning with her when I began breastfeeding her during the night in a side-lying position in bed, when she was about 10 days old.
Squinty usually slept at the foot of my bed, but when he realized I had brought Willow into bed with me, he would immediately come up and spoon her as she nursed. It absolutely melted my heart.”
Nowadays, Squinty never spends a day without cuddling with Willow.
In order to spend some quality time cuddling with Willow before we start the day, I normally bring her into bed with me when she wakes up, according to Zupko. Squinty joins us virtually every time. At this age, she no longer takes many nighttime feedings, but when she goes through growth spurts and I breastfeed her at night, Squinty nearly always comes and spoons her.
Sometimes, Squinty even mirrors Willow’s sleeping position. “It happens once in a while, but mostly he likes to be right up against her, often with his head laying on her,” Zupko said.
Zupko was concerned that Willow’s snatching of Squinty might spell the end of their romance. However, nothing could have been more true.
“Squinty is so patient with her,” Zupko said. “She’s accidentally hit him when flailing her arms about, but he just quietly accepts it.
He continues to sit calmly with her, whether he’s being bumped or grabbed. If she grabs too hard, sometimes he will use his paw to gently push her hand away. But I’ve never ever seen him get upset with her.”
Squinty and Willow are predicted to remain close friends in the future by Zupko. Zupko is acutely aware that Squinty is an elder cat at the same time.
I appreciate that he cares for her and is not envious of the thing vying for my attention, Zupko added. The thought that he might not be alive when Willow is older and able to enjoy him and create memories with him makes me sad since the cat is older.
