My friend Dorky Dad has tagged me with the Eight Random Things meme. I'll get around to it soon but after I read his version (which I think is absolutely brilliant), I realized I haven't blogged enough about my cats. If you are hoping for haiku though you can forget that right now. I have a hard enough time just stringing regular sentences together let alone poetry. (I submit my last post as exhibit A. I actually cringed when I re-read it).
My cat story begins withg my dad. My dad hated cats. He was not the type of person who would ever intentionally hurt an animal (*cough*Michael Vick*cough*), but there was no way we were ever going to own one.
I think his hatred started back before I was born when he built a sandbox for my then toddler brother. The neighborhood cats decided that what my father had actually done was build them a very large litter box. To make it worse, it was not my dad who discovered the cats were using the sandbox but my brother. As a dad, I can understand the rage he must have felt upon finding my brother sitting in the sandbox, covered in cat shit, arms raised proudly holding two large fistfuls of feline excrement. There was no turning back after that. My dad was an avowed despiser of cats for the rest of his life.
I guess many times bigotry and prejudice are passed down from the parents and my father's anti-cat sentiments were passed on to me. For years I couldn't stand them. I didn't have an experience like my dad did as an excuse though. He hated them, so I hated them.
It was my brother who turned me around. He rescued a kitten from a flood and decided to adopt him. Aptly named Noah the cat did most of the work turning me on to the coolness of his kind. A few years later, my wife, kids and time spent with Noah had finally worn me down enough to agree to shop for one.
I had some rules though. A while back, I had been scammed by my wife and mother-in-law into agreeing to breed Yorkshire Terriers which turned out to be a major disaster. I was not going into cat ownership blindly accepting anything they told me. I picked up a few books at the library and did some research. I decided the criteria was a male, short-haired adult. This was, of course, the exact opposite of what my wife had in mind.
WIFE: But a kitty is so cute. Our dogs were full grown when the kids were born and I would hate for them to miss that since they never got to know what having a puppy is like!
ME: I understand that, but it says right here in the book A Whole Lot of Cats by Kit N. Caboodle that a kittens personality can change drastically as it matures. With an adult cat you have a better idea what his temperament is like.
WIFE: Ok, so why does it have to be a short haired? I want something I can stroke.
ME: (under my breath) Well, If you're looking for something to stroke...
WIFE: Not Funny!
ME: Look, we already have three long haired terriers shedding hair all over the place thanks to the Yorkie breeding fiasco of 1994. Do you really want something else that you...I mean we will have to brush and clean up after?
WIFE: Ok, so why a male? You know males are more aggressive right?
ME: I thought that too, but actually, according to The Cat's Revenge by Claude Bottom, a neutered male cat is more likely to keep an even temperament as he ages.
So with my unshakable logic, I was able to convince the wife I was right and she was wrong. This doesn't happen very often in our marriage so I spent the rest of that evening savoring the flavor of sweet victory. All that was left now was a trip to the ASPCA shelter to see what we could find....
Announcement:
As I said in my previous post, I've been very busy and blogging has hit the back burner a bit. I actually started this post two days ago but could not flesh it out to my liking in the short amount of time I had available. If you want to see what happens when I don't flesh out an entry I again refer you back to my last installment. So I decided to make this one a two parter. I'll probably have to resort to this more in the future so I apologize in advance.
18 comments:
A cliff hanger???? Sigh...
I have four cats. I like the girl cats best. We have three dogs...I like the girl dogs best.
One of our males we got as a kitten. He was a sweet, cuddly kitten and all who met him adored him. Then, he grew up and he became what we lovingly refer to as The Psycho Cat From Hell. He lays in wait under and behind everything and attacks people as they walk by. He is NOT playing, he is attacking, with claws and teeth and evil intent. He attacks the dogs. My German Shepherd/Husky/Akita mix is TERRIFIED of him. He attacks the other cats and leaves little chunks of fur on the floor. I boot his furry butt outside now. He can go attack a 'possum or something.
Now, finish the post!
I have three cats, two females and a male.
I had the two females long before George showed up on my doorstep demanding food.
He was about a year old then, and already pushy.
He has become more and more agressive with the girl cats in the 7 years I have had him.
But with me he can be so sweet.
He also can be that Psycho Cat from Hell.
So the idea that males are more even tempered as the age is crap. He gets more insane by the day.
But I love him.
I've had over my lifetime a total of 11 cats (3 male, 8 female) and 6 dogs (3 and 3). Almost all felines were spayed or neutered. The dogs varied.
The only dog to make me truly crazed was female. She was also the LAST dog I had. She may very well REMAIN the last dog I had.
Of my cats, none were truly psycho because, well, they weren't. However, of "problem cats". all are female. My current two boys, while not angels, use the litterbox correctly, are not food fussy, and believe that nighttime is for sleeping. I have two females who have litterbox problems. A previous cat (female) had similar problems. We don't have a lot of carpet anymore for this reason.
Every male cat I've had was totally a love slut, while the females varied greatly in temperament and attitude from Princess PissyPaws to "Was that a cat I saw?"
But cats, like people, are individual and not easily predicted. Ya just love 'em, and you deal with what you get, like you do with kids.
Of the four(!) cats currently roaming our house, it is the neutered male that PISSED ALL OVER THE WALL-TO-WALL CARPET in the family room a couple years ago.
No amount of cleaning would kill the smell or stop Mr. Tomcat from peeing. I had to rip it all out and we replaced it with an area rug.
Turns out the key was to set up two additional cat boxes, so they all weren't using the same one. It hadn't been a problem up until then, though.
Did I mention I'm allergic to cats, as well? FEH!
I have two cats. But they're big enough that they could be four.
Gosh, I love making fun of my cats' size. And it's really easy.
I will eagerly await the conclusion of this post!
We always had dogs and cats growing up. Since my last dog and cat both had to be put down within a few months of each other in 1994, I haven't owned any pets. The only time I get to play with a cat now is when my sister comes down here with the orange tornado.
I guess I got off lucky that my husbands only requirement in a cat was that it drink beer. Actually, it went more like this: "If you can find a cat that will drink a beer with me, only THEN will we have a cat." Two days later, he was sitting outside and had an open beer and a stray kitten wondered up and starting licking the top of his beer can. We still have that cat 5 years later!
I don't care about the gender of a cat as long as it is spayed/neutered. But it definitely has to be short-haired. They have a cool, sleek look and I'm allergic enough as it is.
Jeff, if you don't post part 2 soon, I will drive up there, find you, and beat you until you crawl to the computer and finish the story.
Sorry for the delay, family issues have been keeping me away from my blog duties. Ill post the conclusion soon...I promise!
So sorry you are feeling burned out. But, my friend, you are not off the hook. Consider yourself tagged!
Ya know, I think we've been patient enough. I'm gonna stage a strike.
In my lifetime of cats (9 total, 3 at the moment) it's been the females that turn bitchy. The males are always love-sluts and very laid back.
Oh, Jeeeeeeeeefffffff! Just wanted you to know we miss you! Hope all is well.
Five more days and it'll be a month, but I don't want to rush you.
OK, man, just Finish This Story!! Then if you must quit blogging, feel free.....but this, this is just cruel!!
LOL....things have settled a bit and I'm NOT quitting blogging. I promise!
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