If there’s got to be an aggressive cat in a suite of 15, it helps if he also happens to also be the toothless one.

Despite being dentally challenged, Desi has been causing quite a stir in Suite C the last couple of weeks.

Those who know Desi are surely having the same initial reaction I had right now:  Desi? No…

Oh, yes.

Desi, he of the perpetually-scared Bambi eyes, sweet-and-timid spirit and complete absence of teeth, was noted lasthing out at his roomies on two recent occasions. His attacks were so serious, in fact, that Desi had to be put in “lockdown” overnight, snoozing in a closed crate so he couldn’t wreak any havoc without human beans around to stop him.

But this post isn’t really about Desi’s puzzling recent behavior. It’s about the things that can make a mild cat go mad…or courageous, as the case may be.

Desi’s recent victims were Sylvan (who, as volunteer Stephanie would put it, is about as inoffensive as a cat can be), and everybody’s buddy, good-time chatterbox Mango. As unexpected as Desi’s attacks were, even more startling is the reaction he stirred in Mango’s #1 fan…Puzzle.

Now, if Desi is (usually) a lamb, Puzzle is a dwarf lamb with no teeth, hooves, or courage. In fact, Puzzle spent his first two months in Suite C living in the Plexiglas tube connecting the suite to the solarium, conveniently out of the reach of humans, cats, and other terrors (like, say, dust particles). Through a slow, painstaking process that continues to this day, Puzzle has come to appreciate human affection, and to reeeeeally appreciate feline affection. In fact, Puzzle is so infatuated with other cats that most of them can’t tolerate more than a few moments of his clingy rubbing and follow-the-leader behavior. The most patient friend Puzzle has ever made has got to be Mango. But, even with a friend of his own, Puzzle has all the guts of a gerbil.

Usually.

But if you attack our feline Sancho Panza’s beloved Don Quixote, you’re in for another side of this mild child.

Desi learned that pretty quickly when he set his sights on the happy-go-lucky orange guy. No sooner had Desi lashed out at Mango, then Puzzle sprang into action, launching himself at Desi. Maybe Desi was so stunned by Puzzle’s wildly out-of-character wildness that he reformed his ways instantly. At least, it sure seems that way, as Desi’s aggression has since stopped completely.

As for Puzzle, he’s back to his old, scared-of-the-world, in-love-with-cats ways. I suspect we’ll only see this tuxedo Clark Kent turn into Supercat on rare occasions. But, clearly, he has it in him to be a very, very brave boy.

As for what sparked Desi’s wackiness in the first place? Ah, that’s a mystery for another day. Which is my way of saying, your guess is as good as mine. 🙂

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