Theme Thursday
Katie, Mystery, and their yellow brotherSince I was a child, I've had a cat. I've had Lizzie, Miss Black, Stretch, Buck, Emily, NoDad, TwoTone, and Asher. Doesn't sound like many over a lifetime, now that I think about it.
But Buck, a wonderful female manx I rescued from the pound, lived with me for 13 years, Emily (a graceful white) for 18 years, and Asher (a delicate gray) for 12 years.
NoDad, whom we bottle-nursed after we found him abandoned in the backyard by his feral mother, was named for his unknown father tom. His half-sisters, TwoTone and Asher, came along a few years later, same backyard, same feral mother. TwoTone vanished in the night when she was about five, and NoDad lived to be about 10. Asher died last summer, and it broke my heart, as all of them broke my heart when they went.
But Buck, a wonderful female manx I rescued from the pound, lived with me for 13 years, Emily (a graceful white) for 18 years, and Asher (a delicate gray) for 12 years.
NoDad, whom we bottle-nursed after we found him abandoned in the backyard by his feral mother, was named for his unknown father tom. His half-sisters, TwoTone and Asher, came along a few years later, same backyard, same feral mother. TwoTone vanished in the night when she was about five, and NoDad lived to be about 10. Asher died last summer, and it broke my heart, as all of them broke my heart when they went.
MysteryLast August, my aunt found four abandoned, unweaned kittens, and she bottle-fed them, groomed them, loved them, and gave me the two females. We found a good home for the two males. I named the girls Mystery (an explorer) and Katie (a mellow sweetheart).
The two kittens are nine months old now. They rule the house. They tell the three beagles what to do, and they use the dogs as sparring partners when the dogs happen to wander by.
The two kittens are nine months old now. They rule the house. They tell the three beagles what to do, and they use the dogs as sparring partners when the dogs happen to wander by.
Mystery harasses RileyI would like the girls to be cuddlers, but they aren't. When they wish to be petted, they present themselves. When I lie down, they apparently get a telegraph and they arrive to lie at my feet. If I try to touch them, they will simply get up and walk off. They have rules, and I obey.
Mystery likes to sit on my husband's lap when he's watching television. She doesn't like my lap at all. But her sister Kate joins me at the computer every day to lie awkwardly on my lap while I work. I don't like it much, because she uses her claws to keep herself on my lap. But I obey.
So, now I am owned by two cats. They treat me fairly well. I am their personal slave. This is the usual way of cats, I hear, but all my other cats let me be the boss, so this behavior is a new experience. They are training me well, as they have trained the dogs and the husband.
Must go. I think the cats are calling me...
Mystery likes to sit on my husband's lap when he's watching television. She doesn't like my lap at all. But her sister Kate joins me at the computer every day to lie awkwardly on my lap while I work. I don't like it much, because she uses her claws to keep herself on my lap. But I obey.
So, now I am owned by two cats. They treat me fairly well. I am their personal slave. This is the usual way of cats, I hear, but all my other cats let me be the boss, so this behavior is a new experience. They are training me well, as they have trained the dogs and the husband.
Must go. I think the cats are calling me...
Katie giving me an ESP order
16 comments:
Chris, lovely they are! and bossy, I hope they will let you read my comment ;-) ... have a lovely day :-)
ha. we have a cat as well. he biggest need it to be let in and out of the house. she climbs into the flower box and picks at the screen until we let her in...
When she was little one of my daughters listed the names of all the animals we had once cared for and named. The list was long.
She included all the mice. Mice don't do so well in the living long lives stakes. She listed the rabbits. Over the years we've had about eight of them, the guinea pigs, the fish, the cats, the frogs. But only one dog.
Your list of cats does seem short by comparison. It suggests you've been fortunate with cats.
We too. Our cats number 7 - Tillie (dec 13 years), Pickles (dec - 18 years), Suki (dec - car accident 2 years), Tara (dec- car accident 3 years - we live on a main road), Molly 3 years, Anoushka 3 years and Chan Cho 4 years.
Our back yard is a grave yard of sorts, most of them marked.
Right now I can hear some uninvited visitors - flying foxes nesting and chirping outside my window in the evening.
What would we do without animals, domestic and otherwise.
This is a wonderful and inspirational post. Thanks.
They sound like a pair of little characters! Cats most certainly have their own rules..
Cats have a way about them...very aloof and superior. You're right, they usually own us. Happy TT!!
This is just so precious and delightful to read. I find the names people give to their cats fascinating. We have two; Forest, who is a huge, prowly cat that looks a little like a small mountain lion and Seven (born on the 7th of January, the 7th kitten and runt of the litter). Rejected by her mother a few days after her birth, and heand-reared by my family, She is now 16 years old!
"as they have trained the dogs and the husband"! Ha.
We have 3 cats--all rescues. I found one in the middle of the road when she was a tiny kitten. Rachael is loving and is always in our laps or sleeping on our heads. Esther, the Siamese, was found in a parking lot outside of Atlanta. She is a strong minded cat and adores me. The calico, Rebecca, has come to love us but doesn't like to be picked up. It took her about a year before she wouldn't hide from us. Each is different but much loved by us.
I read somewhere lately that dogs are just happy to go for a drive in the car. The cat wants to be the driver. :) I am a cat person but am allergic to them.
You got me started thinking about all the names of pets I have had over the years. That in etself might make for an interesting post.
Your cats look absolutely wonderful, and such unique, marvellous names! As a fellow cat-lover, I can definitely relate to this tale - the cats are our masters, not the other way round :D
Your cats have such adoring eyes. We have two who show us a reciprocal love as well.
Dogs have companions, cats have staff. Yours are cute!
You know what they say. Dogs have owners. Cats have staff. Sounds like you are happy to accommodate. Me too.
Thank you for sharing this. Reading it (and the comments above, especially by Birdie and e) led to my first grin this early Monday morning. ;)
There's nothing that reflects God so much as the relationship between me and my dogs. That goes for the many many animals including cats, frogs, turtles, rabbits... oh the list goes on and on.
:)
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