Cats

You didn't think I'd make it through "C" day without mentioning cats, did you? I like all things cat: the Broadway musical "Cats," Cat Stevens, cat calendars, icanhascheezburger.com, cat art, other people's cats and all my pet cats.

Yes, I admit, I'm a cat person from way back--all the way back to childhood. My parents instilled a love of animals in us when we were little. The first cat I remember is Gretchen, a grey and brown striped tabby. Gretchen was so mellow we could dress her up in doll clothes.

Other memorable cats included:

• Ming, a sealpoint Siamese we had when I was in my early teens. Ming had a litter of six kittens and they were so adorable. Unfortunately Ming developed a problem with an extruded bowel and had to be put down. All of us were devastated. 
• Big Shot, a lynx point Siamese, we got in my later teens. We saw an ad for kittens on a farm in the country, went to visit, and Big Shot picked us. We lived on a five-acre farm and Big Shot would bring us "presents:" mice, voles, shrews, birds. Good hunter. Leave out the Sunday paper and Big Shot was the first ecologically correct kitty paper shredder. Or, if you tried to read the paper sitting in the easy chair, there was Big Shot, in your lap, on top of the paper.
• Fast forward a few years when Bob and I got together, bought a house and blended our families. We had two young boys, ages 4 and 8. Our first kitten was Yoda, a lynx point Siamese. That cat was excellent with the kids and they loved him. We lived in a quiet neighborhood with only local traffic going by. One night our neighbors from across the street knocked on the door around 10:00 p.m. and told us a cat that looked like ours was dead in the street. We were just devastated and woke the boys to tell them. We all learned about grieving that night.
• Sunny and Cagny: Two orange tabbies.
• Top Cat: a flame point Siamese
• Chico, a Russian Blue mix. We had him from the time he was a kitten until he was 16 years old. He grew up with the kids. Michael was especially enamored of him. Chico developed a kidney problem which got so bad, even with medication, we had to put him down. This kitty had a good life!

 

• Sparky, a grey and brown tabby (our wonderful adopted-from-a-farm cat). To Sparky all cats were his buds no matter what. We got a kitten who had been weaned from his mamma too young and Sparky (a male cat) took over mothering duties: grooming, teaching, and even letting the kitten act like it was suckling on him. The kitten ended up being a well-adjusted adult cat.
• Dude (tuxedo cat): our "squeaker" and "greeting committee kitty." He was always there to greet us at the door with sqeaks. We lived on a busy scenic road that some people thought was a shortcut to where they were going. In front of our house was a straightaway with a speed limit of 35 mph (residential). However at night it sounded like some folks were traveling about 80 mph. One night, around 3:00 a.m., Bob and I were awake and heard a "thump." I knew it was a cat getting hit. I looked out the front door and there was Dude lying in the street. We went out in our bathrobes and thought he was dead. Then he lifted his head and moved his tail. We knew he wasn't paralyzed. We got a box and a blanket, gently slid him in, got dressed and rushed him an hour away to an emergency animal clinic. The next day, the clinic called, said Dude was ready to go home and we could pick him up. Hallelujah! He had a bad concussion and the whites of his eyes were red for a couple of weeks, but that was one lucky cat. 

Dude (or Doodlebug)

• Indy (short for independent--a tortoiseshell)
• Dax: A grey cat with a white milk mustache. We got him from a pet store and he never adapted to life in our home and marked his territory in the house. He was the most skittish cat I ever saw. We ended up giving him to a no-kill shelter.
• Samantha (dilute tortoiseshell)

The peacock feather is mine! Mine, I tell you. ~ Samantha

•  In Hawaii, our cats were Captain (long, 18-lb. flame point Siamese who liked to hang out draped over my shoulder); Rama (flame point Siamese mix--the beauty queen and talker), and Oreo (a feral tuxedo kitten who adopted us). When we moved back to the mainland from Hawaii, it would have been too traumatic on the cats to go with us. We had to give them to the Humane Society as we could not find new owners.

Captain

Our princess, Rama

Oreo--the feral kitten who adopted us (one year old here)

• Our current cats are Bowie and Sunnie. We adopted them off craigslist from a family whose daughter became allergic to cats. These cats are awesome!

Sunnie & Bowie

Bowie & Sunnie

Bowie totally relaxed.

And that my feline friends is that.