Happy National Cat Day

[DirtTherapy]

... as I was reminded from a year-ago Facebook memory:



This may be the only picture of the four of them in the same place. And that cat tree -- when I first got it, none of them would use it. Now, especially as it's in their "catio" area (cat-proof screened porch with pet door so they can go in and out), they love it.

I love dogs, too, and if the cats hadn't found us (all but Bella were feral or stray) I was at one point considering adopting a senior Sheltie through a state rescue group. But, felines rule!

Ann

[worth1]

I like cats too.

[ddsack]

Love the cat tree photo! I am cat-less for now, as my last 20 year old died in the summer. I would like to adopt a couple from the local shelter, but not sure I am ready for it yet. My last couple of cats were strays that came and stayed, was hoping another one might turn up looking for a home.

[Amateurinawe]

When a nice car passes by my house, the dogs leg it down the road chasing and barking at it. The cat looks, says carrera 911, and goes back to sleep again.

I love both cats and dogs, but like water and oil, they don't mix too well.

[GoDawgs]

Great pic! And Happy Cat Day to you too! There are four here and I think your Bella is Lester's long lost twin. Lester shows up in sooo many places. Now Florida.

[brownrexx]

2 cats live at my house.

[karstopography]

I have 3 cats, not really, they are more like my brothers from another mother, they are my parent’s cats. I am a caretaker only. All are rescue cats, Tom Sawyer, Grayson Goodkitty, and Milo. Tom Sawyer is almost always angry, Grayson is always sweet, Milo has no claws and that’s good for keeping one’s blood contained. Milo likes me and purrs furiously when I pet him. Tom Sawyer rubs on my legs, but then swats at me when he feels inclined. Grayson loves to meow.

[DirtTherapy]

Love the cat tree photo! I am cat-less for now, as my last 20 year old died in the summer. I would like to adopt a couple from the local shelter, but not sure I am ready for it yet. My last couple of cats were strays that came and stayed, was hoping another one might turn up looking for a home.

I hope they do show up. So many need homes! We actually have two more, born in our backyard. Mom is totally feral and reminds me of a cat at my old place. The kids just became friendly like overnight... which is to say, my boyfriend fusses over them and broke them in and I just reap the benefit. Plant some catnip!

[DirtTherapy]

Great pic! And Happy Cat Day to you too! There are four here and I think your Bella is Lester's long lost twin. Lester shows up in sooo many places. Now Florida.

Hello to twinsie Lester! Bella has lots of dopplegangers too. I spent about five years working the internet nearly every day trying to match up local lost and found pets across all the digital platforms that don't talk to each other. Got totally burned out on it. But more than once there was a picture that looked so much like Bella McBunbun (long story) that my boyfriend worried I'd let Bella get out. Though her face is a real close match for our little feral girl Pepper (aka Pepita), Bella and her brother who lives with a friend of a friend, are both quite swaybacked (back end higher than the front), and she has a black "faux-hawk" down her back that Pepita doesn't. It made me do a total inventory of all the cats and their telltale markings. Even though all four are also microchipped just in case.

Had three of them for their vet visits in the past month and all three of them have gained what my vet gently called "covid weight." I haven't been feeding them differently but my other half, who is home during the day and wasn't working for several months, is too much of a softie and was feeding them too much. We're trying to knuckle down on it, but the Orca (Evan) is very vocal when he's ready for his meal.

[DirtTherapy]

By the way, y'all really got cheated out of seeing Pixie's sweet face because, my timid high-maintenance longhair was in the shadowbox and looking away.

55959668188__938856CC-FA3C-47BA-B6C0-DADEE4FF13E3.jpg

[GoDawgs]

Here's my brood, oldest to youngest.

This is Callie in her prime about 8 years ago, looking rather like the queen of her kingdom. Her nickname at the time was Swimbo, the pronounciation of SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed). Any Rumpole Of The Bailey fans out there? Callie just turned 18 and so she's now got that little old lady look She is still very healthy although she weighs less, but she eats well and sleeps a lot. No more ordering other cats around.



Next oldest is her daughter Coonie who at 17 is still a very healthy wild child who long ago decided to live outside where she has a variety of "houses". Pickles sits and chats with her every day, brushing her and making sure she is OK. Coonie won't let me get very close so the only pic I have of her is from 2012 but she still looks the same. She's got that "One step closer and I'm outta here" look, one which I still get from her. What a mass of fur!



Herman is 8 years old and now diabetic. He gets insulin shots twice a day. He's always such a help when it comes to starting seeds...



The youngest is Lester, another stray who took up residence a few years ago. He's the only cat who ever showed up that Herman didn't run off. Lester is the pet whore who never lets a lap go to waste.

[DirtTherapy]

All lovely looking kitties! I'm a sucker for those cats that don't want attention up close but secretly want to hold your attention and make you try really hard. That's Pixie's game. Bella can be a lap kitty, but she seems to prefer sitting on Edgar most of the time. She'll sleep on me when it's cold. Evan is also an attention-whore, whether he pushes himself up into your face (he doesn't really fear strangers either, the only one who doesn't hide when people come over) or climbs up above the kitchen cabinets and hollers down to get your attention.

[worth1]

I had a cat that stayed on top of the refrigerator.
One time a friend was over and the cat jumped off the refrigerator and landed in front of him on the table.
Scared the devil out of him.
I could tell y'all how that cat got on top and off the house but no one would believe it.
Had a lot of cats in my life but never seen anything like it.
When she was a kitten she would go up into the chimney and come back out covered in soot.
She was mostly white too.

[GoDawgs]

I had a cat that stayed on top of the refrigerator.

Smart cart. Nice and warm up there!

I could tell y'all how that cat got on top and off the house but no one would believe it. Had a lot of cats in my life but never seen anything like it. When she was a kitten she would go up into the chimney and come back out covered in soot.

When I was in high school, my bedroom has a window that had a ledge below it. In the middle of the night the cat would climb the nearby tree, walk out onto a limb, jump to the ledge and meow until I opened the window and let her in.

[worth1]

Okay I will try to explain what this cat did.
She would sit on the window ledge and jump out and up.
Then reach out and grab the roof edge with her claws and pull herself up onto the roof.
To get down she would slowly but surely edge her way to the edge of the roof sideways.
It would take what seemed like several minutes to do this.
Then as she fell off the roof she would hang on with one paw and claws and swing inward towards the window ledge like a pendulum and land back on the ledge.
It was enough to make any free hand rock climber jealous and it requires intelligents far beyond what a person would think a cat had.
Don't underestimate a cat.
But and I mean but if the sun went down she would sit in a tree and meow till I came out with the extension ladder to get her out of the tree.
I could grab her anywhere and she trusted me to bring her in and not drop her.
Most of the time it was her two front legs I would grab hold of and simply lift her out of the tree put her on my shoulder and come back down the ladder with her riding along like nothing was going on.
she simply didn't want to be grounded after dark.

[ddsack]

[mention]worth1[/mention] , my old cat Culpepper could do the one paw hang as well. When he wanted in, he would climb up the post to our 2nd story deck outside the living room. There is an overhanging lip under the deck railing, so he couldn't come straight up, but had to hang on with his back claws while he somehow twisted back and over enough to dig his front claws above the lip. Going back down was really impressive, he would swing his rear end through and down over the railing, and momentarily hang in the air by one paw, swinging like a monkey until he got his back feet against the post. None of our other cats ever managed the trick.


He also liked to take short kayak trips with me. He would jump on the kayak from our dock. If he saw me leave without him, he'd be waiting for a ride when I got back.

[worth1]

I was bringing my BBQ chicken in and this giant long legged cat came running up on me.
I almost jumped out of my skin .
Then Smokey came running by.
It was her shadow as the sun was setting.

[Texgal]

I like cats too.

That one on your profile pic looks like a friendly rascal.

[worth1]

I like cats too.

That one on your profile pic looks like a friendly rascal.

He was very friendly but long gone.
His name was Squeaker.

[worth1]

Smokey's tail got caught between my toes this morning in the dark.