OMG, I'm an old CAT lady!

I grew up with dogs....our family always had one, and only one dog at a time. I was 100% a dog person in my mind. My mother tells me that before I was around, the family also usually had a cat which ran the house (as well as the dog.) She tells me stories of her cat that taught itself to use the toilet rather than a litterbox, and of the cat that had kittens in the doghouse, and wouldn't let the dog near its own house again. The last cat we had was supposedly wonderful until the day that one of my sisters shut her up in a room all day, forcing it to break it's litter habits. And from then on, it would never go back to the box and ruined the house. That was it for cats for our family and all before I was even 2.

So I never had a cat other than one VERY wild kitten that 'followed me home' one day. (although I don't remember it, my guess is that I was extremely encouraging to the kitten to 'follow me'.) That cat was nuts and was extremely wild and unfriendly. I eventually became it's enemy and it mine....and my Dad eventually dropped it off at a farm to live as a barn cat.

That was it until I became an adult and wanted 'an animal'. I wasn't settled enough yet for a dog, so instead I got a cat. I named her Scheherazade after one of my favorite pieces of music, and called her Shay. My sister also got a cat, Winston (after George) and they grew up for 7 years together while we lived together. When we split, we weren't splitting the cats up, so she took them both.


This was Shay in her twilight years


After the boys were 5 years old and George and I were on our own, I decided I was getting a cat. I was going to get an Abbysinian until my sister ended up taking in a cat that was pregnant. She had 6 kittens, 3 matched pairs. Two were pure tigers, two were tigers with white paws and the last two were golden tigers (ok, orange tabbys but gold sounds classier!) She convinced me of course that I HAD to take more than one. When they were born and were about 3 weeks old, I went to see them for the first time. They barely had eyes open or were walking, yet one of them split apart from the rest and came directly to me....one of the gold ones. He had apparently picked me and I was happy to take him. I really didn't want twins so spent the next 4 visits trying to decide on a second one. The original gold one ignored me from there out, but the OTHER gold one kept showing an incredible personality.....and I just had to have him too. That's how I ended up with two that look identical to most people (not to me at all.)


Rachi is nearer and although looks bigger is, actually the smaller one.

I decided to keep with the musical cats theme and named them after two of my favorite composers, Copeland and Rachmoninov (who I call Rachi, pronounced Rocky.)

I'm not sure how often I was told, 'what are you NUTS? You have three Jack Russels and you're getting a cat.....those dogs will kill that poor cat!'. I read that JRs don't do well with cats too, so I was nervous. The boys had never been around one other than at my sisters house, where they would spend the whole day nervous wrecks because they smelled CAT.

I'm either crazy or smart....not sure which, but I wasn't really worried. The day I brought the kittens home, the boys were very happy.....Daddy brought us SNACKS! They didn't attack, but they were nervous wrecks, were very interested in these furry things and wanted to be in their faces. We had a very nervous first week and George and I slept in different rooms to make sure that when animals were together they were supervised. Spike was the worst, looking like he really wanted them for dinner and just being very nervous. But Spike was also my smart one....and figured out that they were not to be touched. After 3-4 days, he relaxed and his brothers relaxed with him, and we had harmony in the house from there out. The dogs have never so much as snarled at the cats, and the cats thought they were good friends from the get-go.

Rachi (front) Copeland, Spike and Skippy....obviously we get along now.


I got SOOOOOO Lucky with these cats as they have personality out the ying-yang. Copeland, the tiny kitten who broke out of the pack at 3 weeks old to claim me, still does the same thing to this day. Every time anyone comes to the house, that cat is IN THEIR FACE immediately. He greets everyone and won't leave them alone, acting like he's their best friend. If they don't pay attention to him, he insists....and has scared a few non-cat people because of it...lol. Now have you ever heard of a cat that acts like that? Most cats disappear when a stranger walks into the house.

Copeland....Mr Laid back...and he's usually ON his back asleep
Copeland..... doing his CAT Scan impression.

Now Rachi, if Copeland weren't around, would be considered one of the friendliest cats you've ever seen. He also comes out to greet strangers, just isn't as insistent that they PAY ATTENTION to him...lol. But he never hides, and comes out immediately to say hi. He's just not as likely to be in your lap because he's more of a Daddy's boy. That cat spends about half his life lounging on me....on my lap, on my chest, next to me. He's almost as equal with George too, but isn't as likely to be like that with people he doesnt' know.

Rachi in his usual spot
To demonstrate how outgoing these cats are, I'll take you back to our last party (may have been the millenium). All 5 of my animals were out at the beginning of the party because I had no shrinking violets. But the dogs eventually got bored and left, going upstairs to find a quiet spot. Whereas my cats were out in the living room during the ENTIRE party. In fact, Copeland fell asleep in a drunken slumber and will never live it down.

I adore my cats. Rachi became my special one when Bruiser left me. he was already special, but he's the only one who really filled the hole in my heart because he's equally special. he talks to me....he'll meow and I'll answer (also meowing) and he'll answer back...we can do it for 5 minutes. I dont' understand a word he's saying, but he still says it with a very earnest look on his face and acts like he understands me. He's the lickingest cat I've ever seen.....licks anything and everything including cleaning up Skippy. If I put a finger up to his face, it'll be licked inside 2 seconds every single time, even if he's nearly asleep.


The ONLY time he ever pulls back from me or acts like he doesnt' want me to pick him up is in the morning when I'm about to leave for work. he'll be friendly and in my face all morning, but once my shoes go on and he knows I'm leaving, he'll act like he's disgusted if I touch him at all. He's obviously pissed cause he knows I'm going.

Copeland is a great cat too, and both of them are even better than Shay was.....she was special, just different, and eventually not mine anymore. But Rachi is my constant companion, and is also an incredibly beautiful animal. I do apologize to my friends and relatives with allergies, but I have to have my cats.

Although I still love dogs and consider myself still also a dog person, I guess I'm officially a cat person now too. I doubt that I'll ever be without one again....not so sure about dogs. I will try my best not to have 9 cats at one time though (or 200 either).......then I would have to declare myself a 'crazy old cat lady'. (old cat man just doesnt' sound right!)