Posted on 03/08/2012 8:52:24 PM PST by West Texas Chuck
This is my list of all the cats I can remember since I cared about pets.
The early 80s: Tuffy. Tuffy was the baddest of the bad. Belonged to my hippy bud Mark. Had very little of his ears left. Too many late night fights. My bud Mark went off to hike the Appalachian Trail one summer and left Tuffy in my care. Tuffy got out of a window in my apartment one day and was never seen again. Good cat, but a wild child who went off somewhere to battle and make babies, I guess.
The late 80s: Austin and Isis. Austin, patchwork calico. Austin was the flatcat, that beast would lie on the bed flat as a pancake with her tail twitching, flattest cat I ever knew. Good kid, finally succomed to old age. Lots of laughs, fun to live with, not a badass. Isis, the black cat, always afraid and hiding, but a very loving animal when she got to know you. Her kidneys finally failed and we had to stick a needle in the back of her neck and give her downloads from an IV bag every other day, she hung in for a year and a half after that but finally had to be put down. Fine animal, I miss her.
90s: Non Mots and Xena. Non Mots (it's French, look it up) was a stray who laid a couple of batches of kittens in our garage. Very pretty tortoise-shell calico, we finally took her in. I'll never forget one time when she moved her kittens into a planter full of rain water in our backyard. It was so pitiful, we took her and her brood in and gave the kittens away one at a time. My roomie had Non Mots fixed and we made her our house cat. Very good beast once she settled into being kept. Rarely made a sound but she would sit in your lap and drool when patted. That was one damn good cat. Xena, the Warrior Princess. Siamese, got her through adoption as a tiny kitten. Still around, living with my ex-roomie, much darker than when she was young. Well natured, fun to laugh at and hold. I saw her a couple of months ago. Has learned to be the dominant female in a house full of large dogs. I have a bunch of fun photos of her as a kitten, jumping at and biting things like a cat will. Good kid.
The modern era: Cricket, Missy and Rocket. Cricket is the noisy one. Meows constantly, will wake you up in the middle of the night. Very old and skinny now, but the friendliest cat I ever knew. Always wants to go out, total escape artist. When she finally passes we will bury her outside the perimeter. Always wanted to be on the other side of the fence so why not? Missy, gray tabby, is mean, still claws and bites me even when I have been patting her for an hour. Try trimming that one’s claws, you’ll bleed. But all in all, a good kid. Queen of our abode. Rocket, my cat. Orange tabby, we found him under an old dishwasher on the front porch of the house we moved into. Covered with fleas, we had to dip him in Dawn a few times to get rid of his pests. I know his daddy, Stevie, the ruler of our ‘hood. Rocket is a good kid, he loves me, but the jumpiest and weirdest cat I’ve ever known. Afraid of every sound and movement, but a lover boy when he is in his element. Loves water, will stick his head in any water dish or under any faucet that is running. Loves ice cubes, but runs like hell when you make a sound.
These are the cat’s I have known, hopefully I’ll know a few more, but in no hurry for the current ones to fly away.
Wish I could remember all the cats in my life. But there are a few.
Sheba - brown point Siamese. I don’t have much recollection of her, aside from the fact she was the only cat my parents actually got as a pet (we lived in the city at the time). We left her with some friends when we went away on vacation; she ran off and we never saw her again.
After Sheba, we moved to the country and had a wide assortment of barn cats. At that point, as far as Dad was concerned they were there primarily to keep the rodent population in check. I don’t remember many names, or specific cats, but there was one point where we had three queens on our property who all kittened at once. We went from three cats to over 20!
Cleo - tortoiseshell cat that belonged to one of my college roomates; she adopted him shortly after he moved into the house we shared (he was there first). Probably the first cat I really bonded with. She would sleep at my feet, and at least once during the night I’d kick her off as I turned over; she’d just hop back onto the bed and curl up next to my feet. My roomie took her with him when we all moved out after graduation.
Apple - orange tabby female. Got her about a year and a half ago as a birthday/anniversary gift for my wife. We adopted her from a local shelter. From the moment she was handed to my wife, Apple wanted to cuddle. She’s an endless source of entertainment, and still acts like a big kitten at 3 1/2 years.
Patch - another tortoiseshell. She was originally a stray who lived in our neighborhood when we moved into our house. I began putting food out for her last summer when I noticed she’d had kittens in our back yard, and slowly she warmed up to us. We finally took her in; turns out she was pregnant. She had her babies this past Monday, and as soon as the kittens are weaned we plan to have her spayed. She’s turned out to be a very affectionate cat; while she doesn’t always care to be picked up, she will climb into your lap if you sit long enough.
My first cat (I was four) was named Blackie (just a Tom). The child of the manager of the apartment we lived in threw him down the stairs and broke his back. I beat the crap out of the kid and we were evicted.
My next cats were SinSu and Uno (both Siamese), they past of old age.
Then George (Siamese mix), he died in a tragic accident.
Then Carousel and George Two (both Siamese), died of old age.
We had Orange Kitty (Orange Tom), died of old age.
No cats since, I love cats. Would have dozens if I weren’t allergic, which I found out after all the cats in my life.
What a fun post. Thanks.
Only one I truly recall liking was Iris back in the 80’s. Anytime she would bring home a fresh kill she would sit on the porch and meow until you came to look at it. Only then would she take it away and eat. She brought home a Jack rabbit once about as big as she was.
This has your ping list written all over it.
Bookmark for tomorrow.
We had a few cats during my lifetime. My favorite was Star. We got her when I was in 2nd grade in 1959. My parents had just bought the house we grew up in and we had been there just a week. A nice older gentleman was walking down the street with this scrawny, dirty black and white kitten following him. This nice man graciously gave this kitten to my younger sister and myself. We excitedly ran inside the house to show my parents the kitten the nice man gave us! After my parents told my sister and myself un no uncertain terms that we DON’T accept gifts from strangers, we kept Star. She ended up being a very wonderful pet we had for 17 years. She died of old age.
We have three now, but the cat I grew up with, Sweetpea, is the one I remember. She had 61 kittens during her 17 years, survived growing old with a family of five kids, and had a paralyzed tail and a pin in her jaw from being accidentally run over by my mother. When we were little, we would jump on her dead tail, and she would just look at us. :) She was a tough old bird, and as sweet as her name.
Having pets is full of ups and downs.
They make us hurt when they pass, but man they are so much fun when they are among us. There are no funner memories than how silly a pet can be. That is years of happiness.
Thanx FReeper.
61 kittens? Wowee, did you name them all ;)
“God made the cat that we might caress the tiger’’. Quite a list. I’ve had loads of cats over the long years. Loved ‘em all.
One of our cats, Butterscotch (big orange tabby) love to have a plastic laundry basket placed over him. He would sit there poking his paws through the holes like he was in kitty jail.
Of course, he would NEED to relax during the day, as at night he stalked the family. Woe to anyone who got up to get a drink of water...you never knew from which direction/height/trajectory he would come. Nothing like a 25 pound missile flying through the air towards your head to wake you up but good! He loved that “game”..LOL!
As a child my brother had a cat, in the 1960’s, Blackie...whom I ignored. Since then my husband and I have been owned by several...
OJ, (about 1983) who almost died after a really bad fever where he was pulling his hair out and leaving it in my briefcase...the vet said he likely wouldn’t survive the night and to get him out of his office, or he’d infect all his other cats...he died of feline leukemia a few years later;
In 1988 we got Stripe and Grey ) (hey, we named these 2 sisters whose mother had been run over, Micro, and Mini, but we kept saying “the Grey one”...or “the Striped One”...and they stuck for 17 years...
And, now, Boo. Boo literally dropped into our yard at about 6 weeks, and 14 ounces, and his feral mother ran....he stayed. The craziest cat we’ve had....he’s probably upstairs giving my husband his good night “kiss”....he lays on his chest, purrs loudly, kneads the blanket, then puts one paw on one side of his neck, the other on the other side....purrs, and then BITES and holds his bite on his cheek, while continuing to purr....my husband can handle his bites....he laughs, sticks his finger in his mouth, Boo jumps down, and is gone for the night.
Fluffy— my big sister’s white cat
Rosetti— the cat my hippie brother brought home from college
Poncho— a little gray kitten who ran away
Misty— selected him out of a litter because he held his tail awkwardly. It turned out that the tail was just kind of heavy for him. As an adult, it was a long, fluffy, gorgeous tail. He was my main cat growing up— a dear friend when I needed comfort.
Grady— our current cat. Softest cat ever. Just having him around makes our home cozier. Nice to kids. Best napping companion on a Saturday afternoon.
So many little buddies since my first kitten after returning from RVN. Little black guy I called Absence, as in no color at all. Got beat up by a tom and died of blood poisoning while I was away. Plenty more since, too tired now to think through them all.
“God made the cat that we might caress the tiger’’.
That’s nice. I always say the only reason I’ve ever wanted to be a super model was so I could get to pet a lion or tiger!
I’ve had a lot of cats too, but I’ll talk about Puff, our second cat. He was a demon to me but also a pal. He used to chase me around the house and really scratch up my legs, but only on Saturday. My mom finally figured it out, he was chasing my nightgown (Saturdays were the only days I didn’t get dressed right away!).
But he would also play catch with my, very nicely in our NYC apartment, rolling the ball back and forth. He was the only cat I ever had that would really play WITH you that way.
He grew to be a very mellow cat and lived a long time.
“Rosetti— the cat my hippie brother brought home from college”
LOL, that’s a purrfect name for a hippie college student’s cat!
Let’s see if I can recall all my kitty cats:
1. Thomas P. Cat ( turned out to be a girl...a tuxie at that)
2 Thomas P Cat ( also turned out to be a girl a calico)
3. Nekosan) my cat when I was stationed in Okinawa..given me by a papsan of a village because he had not seen blue eyes before.
4.Stokley..a black cat..great cat..had to give him up when the apt manager found out I had a cat...
5. Frodo and Bilbo Baggins..
6 Pippin, an orange kitty that learned how to open doors to the point we had to put deadbolts on the door to keep him in.
Mangas and Mingo...twins..tabbies born in VA.
Miss Priss and cranky manx,
Mocha..my 3 legged black cat
Missie, a Tonk that adopted me
The Gray Fox, a Russian blue that adopted me.
Taco, an orange kitten rescued.
Nacho my little Catholic kitten abandoned as he was a sickly little kitten orange..loved to polsih your shoes with his little paws,
Rosie, a tortie
Buffy an outdoor kitty we looked after
Scraggles another ratty looking outdoor kitty we looked after
YumYum a big bluepoint that wandered into our yard and we could not find his owners,
Ebonie our little black cat
Cookie our big Tuxie
Mr Peepers our big outdoor tabby
Ziggy ( aka Kisa = cat in Icelandic) our little outdoor pal In the 35 years I have been married, we have had only 2 months without a cat.
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