Mister Fancypants

Mister Fancypants (“legal” name: Stimpy)

Note: At the end of May, 2003, Stimpy didn’t come home. He’d been jumping over the fence in our back yard for several months and would spend a few hours exploring the neighborhood, but always came home. And then one day, he just didn’t. He was wearing a collar but we never received any calls. We put up flyers and called area shelters, but we were never able to find him. We still hope he’ll come home one day.

We adopted Stimpy from the animal shelter in the Fall of 1997. We almost adopted his sister, but someone else had his heart set on her, so we ended up with Stimpy. He’s a long-haired black cat, and when he walks across the room his tail swishes prissily back and forth. He’s the only one of the four who is obviously of the opinion that we are on this Earth to be his servants. If you’re a “Friends” fan, you’re familiar with the Joey Tribbiani “smelling a fart” acting method. Stimpy has perfected that look. He’s the only one of the boy kitties who will let you pick him up and hug him. When Fred leaves a half-full glass of iced tea out, Stimpy likes to dip his paw in the glass, shake off the excess tea, and lick the remains from his paw. He’s the most aggressive of the cats, too. Sometimes the other cats do really annoying things like breathe or sleep, and Stimpy is just overwhelmed with the need to kick their butts. When he rolls over onto his back so we can rub his belly, we refer to it as “being fancy.” Lets me play with his toes, but looks disgusted the whole time.

In Spring of 2003 we had to have him shaved, because he got wet and his long, fancy fur got matted up, and it was impossible to brush the mats out. There’s a picture below.

Likes: playing with rattly toy mice, looking for toy mice under the couch and stove, flopping down and rolling over to allow us to rub his belly

Dislikes: when other kitties look at him funny, when his “bloomers” need to be trimmed

Nicknames: Mr. Fancypants, Swish.