CATS AND MORE!

ALL ABOUT MY CATS

This page is about my cats. I've had cats for as long as I can remember - the first was Sooty, a cat named for her "sooty" tail, I believe. From there we had Chessie and Sparky, kittens who died young. Then Muffin, Gwendolyn (given away because the two cats didn't get along and when presented with the opportunity to take a plain white cat, or a beautiful long haired black cat, the adopting parents choose beauty over brains), Misty, Mindy, Mitzi, Malcolm, Max, and O'Malley (fondly called Malley to keep with the tradition of "m's.") Never more than six, never less than 5. Mindy ran away (my mother insists to this day that she was catnapped, certainly a possibility), the others all lived long lives. Of the "m's", O'Malley is the only one left with my parents.

My sister started a new tradition with Puck and Purrl. Purrl's story is rather funny. My parents adopted him from a local veterinarian and believed from the beginning that Purrl was a girl. A beautiful black panther of a girl. However, one day my father realized Purrl had something no girl kitty should have, and he was then dubbed "Ru Purrl."

I added to the foray of cats (I was not living at home by this time, by the way, but did bring the cats home for visits) Rylla and Rosie. And a couple of years ago, my parents added Buster and Betsy, two siblings. And my sister adopted Dizzy.

Just recently, I had a very hard decision to make. Somehow I managed to fall for a guy who is allergic to cats! And when we made the decision to move in together, we also had make a compromise. Rylla, who I've had longer, came to live with us, and at the end of June, Rosie went to live with my sister. The amazing thing is that Rylla has done an almost complete change in temperament since she became an only cat again. Deep down, I always knew that she wanted to be an only cat, but I had to get Rosie because I hated to leave Rylla alone.

A word of advice to anyone getting a cat - cats ARE solitary creatures! They don't mind being only cats! Not that I don't think it's wonderful to have loads of cats, but not in every situation.

And so the tally - my parents have 5 cats - 1 M, 2 P's, and 2 B's. My sister has two cats, Dizzy and Rosie, and I have one, Rylla, though Rosie is in my thoughts every day.

And so . . . "ON TO MY PAGE!!!!!!

RYLLA

Fluffy, gray & beautiful. I believe she thinks she has royal blood. Don't all cats? She was six in July! Rylla is a cat with an attitude - and I have the scars to prove it!

Rylla as a kitten The Evil Eye

ROSIE

Rosie is ABSOLUTELY THE CUTEST! She was 5 in April. She's always been a very shy kitty - likes to spend loads of time under the bed, but when she's affectionate, she is a real sweetheart. She'll run up to you and wait for you to put your hand out so she can bump it. Rosie is the talkative one of the family - first to wake me up every morning demandingher breakfast. And doesn't her tummy show it! Rosie loves to have her head scratched and massaged.

Rosie's baby pictures

You just wanna rub her belly!

CANDIDE

My goldfish - He was 7 on Labor Day.

Top Ten Things I Love About Cats

10. The way they talk to me & almost sound human!

9. The way they roll on their backs when they're happy.

8. Waking up to find one of them sleeping on my pillow.

7. How they "chrrrp" when they see birds & squirrels.

6. The way they smile at me and make me smile.

5. They rub me and wrap themselves around my legs.

4. Listening to them purr.

3. Petting them.

2. How they wait in the window.

1. They treat me like I'm the only person in the world!

Tidbits about my kitties (and their cousins!)

ROSIE, MY LITTLE MONKEY CAT

I don't think it's possible for cat to eat "normally." And, really, what IS normal? Rosie has made eating into a new art, though. First of all, she cries pathetically until she has food in her bowl, and as I'm well trained, her bowl doesn't stay empty long. (She's on a diet now, though) Anyway . . . Rosie sits in front of her bowl and pulls out her food piece by piece. Now, I've seen plenty of other cats do this - for some reason, they have something against eating directly from the bowl. So they pull the food out and eat it from the floor. Not Rosie, though. She pulls it out & eats it from her paw! She has her little paw curved into a spoon of sorts and she eats the food piece by piece. The first time I saw her do it, I thought it was a one time thing, but that's how she eats every day!