When I grew up, I was a cat person. I always loved Dogs too but was only allowed to have a cat. My first cat was a black and white tuxedo cat. I loved that little cat, Whiskers was his name. When the family went on vacation, we had the neighbor look after him. When we returned we were told that he ran away and never came back. I was heartbroken. My parents got another cat that we named Twinkle Toes because she had those extra toes. My memories of Twinkle are quite clear and vivid.
Twinkle was fierce. She was the epitome of an independent female, and I learned a lot from her. She stood her ground and even went nose to nose with a German Shepherd dog, backing him down. In those days, neutering a cat was a rare occurrence so needless to say, Twinkle had several litters of kittens. We always found homes for them but ended up keeping one special one. Frisky. We had Frisky for about 5 years and he passed away from distemper. Twinkle outlived him but ultimately passed at 13 from cancer.
And so began my prequel to being the retired old cat lady. Don't misunderstand me, I am definitely not there yet but have several friends who are including my daughters! i remember each and every one of my kitties. After Twinkle came Charlie named after Charlie Chan. He was my first Siamese cat and certainly not my last. When I got married, I thought it best to leave Charlie with my parents since he had stolen their heart and I did not want to take him away from them. My husband knew how much I loved cats and surprised me one day with a cute little tabby kitten who he had named Ding-Dong because she would run around in circles after her tail. My heart grew with each cat that I adopted. There was Fluffy, Neffie and Ramsey . Toby, Tyler and now Leo. Each one was special and loved and stories of their loyalty and devotion will follow in a later post. The last three were tuxedo cats and I have to say that Black and white cats are very special. Leo thinks he is a dog. He was very young when we got him and he immediately thought that my chocolate Lab was his mom. She did not appreciate his breast feeding attempts but that did not stop him from snuggling up to her. They eventually formed a strong bond. Leo is very tolerant of other dogs as well. When we adopted our new puppy I was concerned that he may not take to him but he did so admirably. He took the playful puppy under his wing and showed him the ropes.
And so began my prequel to being the retired old cat lady. Don't misunderstand me, I am definitely not there yet but have several friends who are including my daughters! i remember each and every one of my kitties. After Twinkle came Charlie named after Charlie Chan. He was my first Siamese cat and certainly not my last. When I got married, I thought it best to leave Charlie with my parents since he had stolen their heart and I did not want to take him away from them. My husband knew how much I loved cats and surprised me one day with a cute little tabby kitten who he had named Ding-Dong because she would run around in circles after her tail. My heart grew with each cat that I adopted. There was Fluffy, Neffie and Ramsey . Toby, Tyler and now Leo. Each one was special and loved and stories of their loyalty and devotion will follow in a later post. The last three were tuxedo cats and I have to say that Black and white cats are very special. Leo thinks he is a dog. He was very young when we got him and he immediately thought that my chocolate Lab was his mom. She did not appreciate his breast feeding attempts but that did not stop him from snuggling up to her. They eventually formed a strong bond. Leo is very tolerant of other dogs as well. When we adopted our new puppy I was concerned that he may not take to him but he did so admirably. He took the playful puppy under his wing and showed him the ropes.
There is a common bond between cat people. We know, we just do. We get it. We purr and meow when we see a cat as if to say hi and introduce ourselves to it. I don't bark when I see other dogs but I do meow when I see cats. Why??? I haven't figured that one out yet but I think it may be one of the wonders of the universe. By the way, you don't have to have 100 cats to be a crazy Cat Lady. You just have to love cats, have at least one cat that you speak to regularly in their language, of course.
So, there you have it. This is how crazy cat ladies are made. One endearing feline after another until they completely turn you into a meowing, purring human.