Arial
Hi..I just registered...got up too early w/a headache & decided to delve into my favorite habit: CATS! I want to have more people to "cluck" with about my "lovelies!!"
I grew up on a farm & spent my entire childhood crying and digging graves. My whole life revolved around my cats then, sometimes as many as twenty....they were unhealthy and semi-feral, but I observed them for YEARS, and could make a film every bit as good as a PBS special on my little people in cat suits!
Between then and now, I became a dog groomer and have worked for many veterinarians, plus self-employed. I have a BFA in design from University of KS (Go Jayhawks!) and at my late age (52) have formed an LLC where I will have a gallery, make stuff, and consign. (Will die though, with clippers in my hands!)
The common thread in my life is CATS!! My first housecat was a Siamese, back in high school. Following marriage, I got another one: rescued (with an eye infection) from an aquarium full of sawdust in an old Gibson's store-we called her our $10 cat!....we took her to visit a Siamese tom & had two sealpoints and a blue. OH WHAT FUN IT WAS. Then kids came and "Little Freddie" basically lived under my bed in the daytime, and in the bed at night. She lived to be twenty....died of kidney failure. It was a very sad day.
During the "Freddie Era" though, I got two purebred Persians....a silver tabby and a deaf white male. Lots of problems with them, but they were wonderful, and died young. We presently have quite an interesting little group: a brother and sister, Louis, a shorthair high-white with yellow tabby splotches; Ann, a long-hair calico who is SUCH a little loveable beeeotch! I saw them in the floorboard of an old truck, filthy and sad; the passenger had few teeth and informed me they were on their way to shoot the kittens.....I took them, and now they're age 9 and ROTTEN. At the time, I was employed in a vet clinic where a BEAUTIFUL black tabby with mittens, bib and "dustmask" was dumped. She was the same age as Louis and Ann....I brought her home & her name is Mickey. She loved the other two as a kitten, but now is the Queen and quite hateful to everyone else! Three years later, I went to pick up a Siamese kitten for my sister, and the (neglectful) owner had an orange 1/2 Manx longtail kitten still nursing it's mother....he was COVERED with fleas. I could not resist, so brought him home, de-flea'd him & he became Leo. He has more hair than I've ever seen!!! Last year we had to put down our best cat, Otis. He was 15ish...he came to us fullgrown and neutered in 1990. He was a sight to behold: a silver mackeral tabby shorthair, and an attitude that became famous around town. He was our guardcat. He could not stay inside because he was driven to mark territory constantly....but in his latter years he had a special homemade crate that he loved & slept in at night. He had the physical appearance of a cheetah when he was in his full glory, and would attack any intruder with no thought whatsoever....he'd roll a large dog with no effort! He had to be euthanized due to an opportunistic mite which nearly covered his body due to feline leukemia. It was another sad day, but his life was the best of both worlds (indoor & outdoor!) "Little Eddie" was another that had to be put down the same year....I still have a couple of his whiskers! I nursed him through encephalitis, and he was braindamaged, after 6 years of pure pleasure....he looked like a Maine Coon. We allowed him to pace the house mindlessly for a year before we could let go of him....while telling him how beautiful he was, he attacked my face & tore my lip open. It was time to let go.
We now are "on hold" with our four foolish cat-kids, and have promised ourselves a real Maine Coon when all have met their maker....but every once in a while, I run into a kitten I can barely resist. I just hope I see every cat I ever knew the day I die.....does everyone feel this way??? I hope I find some like-minds here............thanks for reading this "essay!"
I LOVE CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi..I just registered...got up too early w/a headache & decided to delve into my favorite habit: CATS! I want to have more people to "cluck" with about my "lovelies!!"
I grew up on a farm & spent my entire childhood crying and digging graves. My whole life revolved around my cats then, sometimes as many as twenty....they were unhealthy and semi-feral, but I observed them for YEARS, and could make a film every bit as good as a PBS special on my little people in cat suits!
Between then and now, I became a dog groomer and have worked for many veterinarians, plus self-employed. I have a BFA in design from University of KS (Go Jayhawks!) and at my late age (52) have formed an LLC where I will have a gallery, make stuff, and consign. (Will die though, with clippers in my hands!)
The common thread in my life is CATS!! My first housecat was a Siamese, back in high school. Following marriage, I got another one: rescued (with an eye infection) from an aquarium full of sawdust in an old Gibson's store-we called her our $10 cat!....we took her to visit a Siamese tom & had two sealpoints and a blue. OH WHAT FUN IT WAS. Then kids came and "Little Freddie" basically lived under my bed in the daytime, and in the bed at night. She lived to be twenty....died of kidney failure. It was a very sad day.
During the "Freddie Era" though, I got two purebred Persians....a silver tabby and a deaf white male. Lots of problems with them, but they were wonderful, and died young. We presently have quite an interesting little group: a brother and sister, Louis, a shorthair high-white with yellow tabby splotches; Ann, a long-hair calico who is SUCH a little loveable beeeotch! I saw them in the floorboard of an old truck, filthy and sad; the passenger had few teeth and informed me they were on their way to shoot the kittens.....I took them, and now they're age 9 and ROTTEN. At the time, I was employed in a vet clinic where a BEAUTIFUL black tabby with mittens, bib and "dustmask" was dumped. She was the same age as Louis and Ann....I brought her home & her name is Mickey. She loved the other two as a kitten, but now is the Queen and quite hateful to everyone else! Three years later, I went to pick up a Siamese kitten for my sister, and the (neglectful) owner had an orange 1/2 Manx longtail kitten still nursing it's mother....he was COVERED with fleas. I could not resist, so brought him home, de-flea'd him & he became Leo. He has more hair than I've ever seen!!! Last year we had to put down our best cat, Otis. He was 15ish...he came to us fullgrown and neutered in 1990. He was a sight to behold: a silver mackeral tabby shorthair, and an attitude that became famous around town. He was our guardcat. He could not stay inside because he was driven to mark territory constantly....but in his latter years he had a special homemade crate that he loved & slept in at night. He had the physical appearance of a cheetah when he was in his full glory, and would attack any intruder with no thought whatsoever....he'd roll a large dog with no effort! He had to be euthanized due to an opportunistic mite which nearly covered his body due to feline leukemia. It was another sad day, but his life was the best of both worlds (indoor & outdoor!) "Little Eddie" was another that had to be put down the same year....I still have a couple of his whiskers! I nursed him through encephalitis, and he was braindamaged, after 6 years of pure pleasure....he looked like a Maine Coon. We allowed him to pace the house mindlessly for a year before we could let go of him....while telling him how beautiful he was, he attacked my face & tore my lip open. It was time to let go.
We now are "on hold" with our four foolish cat-kids, and have promised ourselves a real Maine Coon when all have met their maker....but every once in a while, I run into a kitten I can barely resist. I just hope I see every cat I ever knew the day I die.....does everyone feel this way??? I hope I find some like-minds here............thanks for reading this "essay!"
I LOVE CATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
