Wanda & Purlie Mae Bailey!

I thought my cat Charlie would be my only cat. When he died at 15, I was devastated. He was my buddy. About two years after he passed… I walked by Metro Pets and sawa Charlie look alike. But she was a female

“I was told she was older and no one was interested in her.”

They said she didn’t play. They said she was afraid of the window.

“I adopted her.”

I named her Wanda because they said she was wandering around. She stayed in the bathroom for a while. She just started to venture out when one week later I went to buy food in Metro Pets.

“The owner told me the kitten in the window was Wanda’s.”

She is black with green eyes and at our first meeting she bit me. The owner at the time told me the kitten was more feral than the mother. I didn’t know what the word meant. I soon found out.

“I named her Purlie Mae Bailey”

…(after the Broadway Musical Purlie and a wonderful performer, Pearl Bailey.

Pearl Bailey was a talented singer, actress writer. She became the Ambassador of Love at the U.N. My Purlie was more like a she devil. She hissed and swiped and I was afraid of her.

“I learned patience.”

We have to live together. These two girls were not like my buddy, Charlie. They each have their own personalities. They had to learn to trust me. They don’t seem fond of each other.

“They are both fond of me NOW.”

Ah!!! I am the food source. They get turkey in their carriers in the a.m. and late at night as a snack. Mike Phillips taught me that. This way they get used to going in their carriers. Purlies swipes have now turned into taps with her paw. I can pet her when she is in the mood. Wanda loves to sit by me and loves to be brushed.

“Wanda, the cat that “didn’t play and was afraid of the window” now sits in her condo and makes noises at the birds that fly by our 27th floor window.”

She plays like a kitten.

Wanda and Purlie have taught me so much in our two years together.