Guay: An Israeli Cat Stuck in Michigan

Guay and the Mrs. relocated to Michigan from Israel, on the event of the Mrs. marriage to the Mr. Guay was starved and drugged, dragged onto an airplane, investigated by French inspectors, and entered the US totally exhausted. Too exhausted to even meow all the way from Chicago to Grand Rapids, Michigan. And of course, Michigan meant C-H-A-N-G-E for this independent Israeli cat.

Actually, it was just before Yom Kippur (the High Holy Days) in Israel. I had been living in my new apartment for a year, and had been catless for just over 2 years. I missed having a cat. So I went to a cat shelter located in Bat Galim in Haifa.

The shelter was located in a ground floor apartment, and included a kitchen, 3 bedrooms filled with cats, a special room for cats undergoing medical treatment, and a fenced in garden area, also filled with cats.

To be truthful, it wasn't my idea of a cat shelter, but all things considered, for Israel, it was pretty good. I was greeted by a couple of nice ladies who asked me what I was looking for. I told them I thought I might want to get a cat.

They took me into a room and asked me to sit down, look, interact with the cats, and see what happened. So I sat and watched, and felt totally depressed. I was surrounded by cats of every shape, size and color. Many didn't look very healthy. It was so sad. I couldn't take them all. Which one did I want? I didn't know.

After a while one of the ladies came in and asked me what I thought. I told her the truth. She said it can be hard, but that cats have personality, give them a chance, and she took me into another room.

I had been thinking that maybe I'd get two cats, you know, to keep each other company. Well I sat and watched. Two cats caught my eye. One was a lovely female calico. She walked like she knew she was a looker. I talked to her a bit. She watched me, but kept her distance. Then this other cat caught my eye. To be truthful, he was as homely as she was pretty. He was small and scrawny. He looked at her, looked at me, and then started approaching me.

He stopped in front of my face and just looked and looked. Then, as gentle as could be, he reached up and licked me on the nose. And just as fast, WHACK, the female and given him a knock right off the table he was on. He landed, on all fours of course, and didn't say a word, just looked at me.

That settled it... I took him home and left her behind... and so I had my cat.

Now his name was another matter. I wanted something different, something unique, and something fun. I had some Chinese friends. Whenever their baby would cry, they would hold him and pat him on the back and say, "Quay-quay", which meant "there there, be good, its' OK" or something like that.

Well, Quay Quay got to be hard to pronounce, and over time, he became just plain Guay Guay, or Guay for short.

Of course when we arrived in Michigan he was a bit put out, and so my step-daughter gave him a nick-name - "Grumpy Gills"...

However, it is beneath his dignity to answer to that name...

Anyways, this is all from MY point of view.

Because he is such a wonderful cat, I've given him his own company and blog. I am a technical writer, but decided to let him take charge of the business end, and made him CEO of my website, http://www.tech-challenged.com

And he expresses himself quite well, all things considered. Now, if only he could learn how to update the website for me!

Here is Guay enjoying his Israeli garden

Everyone laughs at how much I sleep. But life in Michigan is B O R I N G? I mean, what is there to do? I can watch birds outside my window, eat, and sleep.
There is no place to go (if the Mrs. DID let me out).
Well, there is the 2 acres of land behind us, and I suppose I could visit the mosquitoes. Purrrlease... I'd rather sleep.
And I sleep quite well thank you!
That is why I SEEM to like Michigan... because I sleep all the time (when I'm not CEOing Tech-Challenged....)

Sincerely yours,

Guay Cat ala Grumpy Gills Guay