Shelby

Shelby's Photo Page

Shelby is the newest member of the Beckwith Household. He was not intended to be a permanent resident, but rather a transient (until he was old enough to be adopted out), but circumstances changed the day after I found him. I had taken a half day off of work for an appointment and was on my way in to work on Friday, August 23, 2002. It was about 1:30 in the afternoon, and I came around a bend on PA Route 48 in Monroeville. Standing about 200-300 feet in front of me, in the groove where the right tires ride, was a small animal. As I got closer, I saw it was a very young orange kitten. I swerved and pulled off the road, ran into the lane waving my arms (to make any traffic that came swerve) and snatched him off the pavement. It turns out that it was between 4 and 5 weeks old, male, and covered in ticks! He would have died from anemia in a day or two had I not saved him. Other than that, though, he was extremely healthy. A couple of women pulled off when they saw me grabbing him off of the road and helped me look for additional kittens and the mother. No other cats were found (none hit by cars, either, and I continued looking for the next week as I drove slowly past the area).

It was fate that I found him. The day after I picked him up, my favorite lap cat (Pumpkin) was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia Virus. She had been in a fight in early August and had not healed. She was losing weight as well. We decided to keep him if the rest of the cats tested negative for FeLV. The rest is history!

We named him Shelby for Carol Shelby, creator of the Shelby Mustangs. I found him on a state highway and he is as fast as a 1968 GT500KR Mustang! (I tried to come up with a Firebird-related name, but could not come up with one suitable for a cat.)

This was the first weekend we had Shelby. He has had several flea & tick baths and has been combed and dried. This made his fur extremely puffy! He was about 1 pound and maybe five weeks old here.

This is on our back patio, and he is with his new Mommy.

Action photo! This is Shelby doing his best imitation of a GT500KR. He used to go full speed all the time.

Finally at rest. This used to last either for a few seconds or a few hours! Nothing in between.

This picture is from September 9, 2002 - Shelby was two pounds and seven weeks old. He is inspecting Snowy's favorite toy.

Back to Cat Photos 2

These two photos are from December, 2002. Our cat sitter, Cathy Sterling, took them while we were in Orlando. He was in the "lanky" stage at this point!

This photo was also taken by Cathy, but this time over Memorial Day week 2003, while we were in Las Vegas! He has filled out quite a bit - he is almost 13 pounds in this photo. Quite a long tail, too although you cannot see it here. Hard to believe 10 months before he was only 1 pound!

This is our household's version of WrestleMania! Shelby and Snowy do this almost every day. It is an extension of their grooming sessions... Note Snowy's collar being pulled over her head. Don't worry - it is a safety collar!

This is Shelby on top of the cat perch in the family room. He is filling out by this time... I think it is in the Spring of 2003. Note his extremely long tail...

The ULTIMATE Shelby Action Photo! He is going after a bug outside the window on our newly enclosed patio. This photo is from June 2003 - he is almost fully grown. He is over 14 pounds - not bad for a guy who was a little 4-week old one pounder in August 2002!

This is the Panic Mouse. It is a microprocessor controlled step-motor cat toy. It has totally random movements and the overall speed is controlled by a rotary switch (the mouse's nose). The cats LOVE it. You will also see photos of Snowy and Princess playing with it in their respective photo pages.