- Joined
- Feb 24, 2015
- Messages
- 384
- Purraise
- 83
New here and needing help...as a child I grew up loving dogs. As an adult, I loved dogs so much I became a competing dog groomer and owned 2 different shops. It was in my dog grooming shop that I began learning about cats.
I hired a groomer that had grown up with cats and seemed to know quite a bit about them so when we would get grooming calls for cats I would field the calls to her. She was very choosy on which cats she accepted for grooming and as I observed her from a distance it didn't look like the job was too easy. After some time watching I agreed to assist in the really difficult situations.
I was intrigued by these animals...they were so very different from dogs. Their wild nature appealed to my own wild nature. I went in search of a pet cat of my own by researching different breeds and settled on a blue point Tonkinese. I called her Boo Boo Kitty since I was absolutely certain I was going to regret my purchase.
Boy, was I wrong. She is now a very healthy and wise 19 year old old lady cat, not much different from myself these days. When I speak to her she speaks back. I love this about her. She is very dog like in that she follows me everywhere. She is my favorite animal that I have ever bonded to.
So...last spring I was at home recovering from a work injury, poking around in my backyard garden and began noticing different cats traversing the woods behind my house. We have a gate that leads out there to a long walking trail. It is a perfect place for cats. Plenty of rodents and rabbits to chase and ,unfortunately, baby birds.
One day I was having some tea in he garden and a small black cat came by. I had seen it before and even offered it a little food now and then. I didn't realize that once you fed them they were yours. She stopped and noticed me sitting in my chair and hopped the gate to come for a visit. She didn't come close enough for me to pet her that day. Her visits started to become a daily event and one day she just jumped in my lap and purred. I assumed she belonged to someone because she was so sweet and tame. I began leaving kibble out for her but was dismayed by her trying to pick fights with Boo Boo Kitty through the patio door. In some ways it was amusing because this little cat doesn't weigh more than 8 lbs. and Boo is a whopping 13+ pounder. I named her Indy for independent. She is, as I write this, lounging on the cat bed in the window of my living room. Not so independent after all.
There was another black and white cat...more white than black who would observe my budding relationship with the Indy cat from afar. He would never let me get close, in fact I began calling him "Momma" because he just looked feminine to me. It was a couple of months before he let me get close enough behind him that I was able to observe that he was "Poppa." He also began coming daily for kibble and lots of petting.
One day a grey tabby came by and noticed my friendship and food sharing with Poppa and Indy. He was full of bravado and it was very apparent that he was a studly cat. Big muscular build with a cackley vocalization. He walked right up and asked for my permission to feed. I tried to chase him off because I was beginning to think that I was becoming a "cat lady" and all the horrible things that might imply. But he wouldn't have it, he kept coming back.
These are my cats now. No doubt about it.
To be continued.....I have to run out for cat food.
I hired a groomer that had grown up with cats and seemed to know quite a bit about them so when we would get grooming calls for cats I would field the calls to her. She was very choosy on which cats she accepted for grooming and as I observed her from a distance it didn't look like the job was too easy. After some time watching I agreed to assist in the really difficult situations.
I was intrigued by these animals...they were so very different from dogs. Their wild nature appealed to my own wild nature. I went in search of a pet cat of my own by researching different breeds and settled on a blue point Tonkinese. I called her Boo Boo Kitty since I was absolutely certain I was going to regret my purchase.
Boy, was I wrong. She is now a very healthy and wise 19 year old old lady cat, not much different from myself these days. When I speak to her she speaks back. I love this about her. She is very dog like in that she follows me everywhere. She is my favorite animal that I have ever bonded to.
So...last spring I was at home recovering from a work injury, poking around in my backyard garden and began noticing different cats traversing the woods behind my house. We have a gate that leads out there to a long walking trail. It is a perfect place for cats. Plenty of rodents and rabbits to chase and ,unfortunately, baby birds.
One day I was having some tea in he garden and a small black cat came by. I had seen it before and even offered it a little food now and then. I didn't realize that once you fed them they were yours. She stopped and noticed me sitting in my chair and hopped the gate to come for a visit. She didn't come close enough for me to pet her that day. Her visits started to become a daily event and one day she just jumped in my lap and purred. I assumed she belonged to someone because she was so sweet and tame. I began leaving kibble out for her but was dismayed by her trying to pick fights with Boo Boo Kitty through the patio door. In some ways it was amusing because this little cat doesn't weigh more than 8 lbs. and Boo is a whopping 13+ pounder. I named her Indy for independent. She is, as I write this, lounging on the cat bed in the window of my living room. Not so independent after all.
There was another black and white cat...more white than black who would observe my budding relationship with the Indy cat from afar. He would never let me get close, in fact I began calling him "Momma" because he just looked feminine to me. It was a couple of months before he let me get close enough behind him that I was able to observe that he was "Poppa." He also began coming daily for kibble and lots of petting.
One day a grey tabby came by and noticed my friendship and food sharing with Poppa and Indy. He was full of bravado and it was very apparent that he was a studly cat. Big muscular build with a cackley vocalization. He walked right up and asked for my permission to feed. I tried to chase him off because I was beginning to think that I was becoming a "cat lady" and all the horrible things that might imply. But he wouldn't have it, he kept coming back.
These are my cats now. No doubt about it.
To be continued.....I have to run out for cat food.
