I AM NOT A CAT PERSON.

No matter how many times I tell that to myself or what font size or type I use, it’s unavoidable. I have become a Cat Person.

I grew up with dogs. My mom had allergies and so did I. My dad said the best cat was a dead cat. I admit, I was pretty closed off. Even if I could get around it mentally, what about my health?

It turns out that just about everyone I knew with cats were actually not into cat grooming, bathing them or using a carpet cleaner around the house.

Eventually I caved.

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The Twins

 

 

I always visited the cats for adoption at places like Petsmart and Petco with my significant other(s) telling myself ‘if only’. During one of these visits, a woman approached me with two tiny kittens. She said that the mother had them in her yard and had suddenly left and never came back.

wha?

Ok, sure I can help. -they were almost 3 weeks old-

So I took them in: Ashley and Samus (2008)
We potty trained them because they were too small to even go on their own. They refused the KMR but I was able to get them to eat soft foods. I got spay/neuter vouchers from the county and got the vaccinations from The Vaccination Station.
When they were teens(3 months) I gave them to my friend and I am still in contact with them.

So maybe I’m not a dog person

We have such a problem with cats in this county that they actually have a time of year called Kitten Season. The shelter and humane society become full capacity, lower prices and even rescues can’t accommodate any more cats.

I was walking the dog. Lila and I spot a kitten outside crying by a door to a vacant apartment. The neighbor confirmed the apartment was empty. The kitten wasn’t going to have anyone answer the door. I took her home with us during that walk to avoid her becoming part of the issue in our area. She was between two or three months old. (2009)

In Arizona, the law states that if you keep a dog or cat and care for it for six consecutive days, you automatically become the owner of the animal.

On day six, I was asked if we were taking her to the Humane Society. I said I didn’t feel like it. I like her hanging out in bed with me and the extra company. I named her Ursula because she was a little bear, but eventually the boyfriend won on naming rights and she was renamed Yue.

She’s a brat and she whines a lot (just like he loves her) and used to run to my dog and smack her upside the head and run away. I decided to get her a cat both for mine and my dog’s sake.

Tommy Gargoyle was picked up from Petco through the Maricopa County Animal Shelter. He was 3 months old and had just been neutered but he didn’t miss the huevos at all. He kept chasing his tail and falling off the shelf at the store. He never cried at anyone. He never grabbed at people. He kept on playing around, chasing his tail and falling back off the shelf within the cage. That was my boy.

Tommy was coined the Gargoyle because of his perching abilities, sitting next to me on the armrest, guarding from the floor outside my shower door and projectile barfing of hay from the top corner of the fridge.

Several cats have stayed with me. We’ve kept cats of family members for any given time as well as acquiring them in different ways. Guests have been The Twins, Bob, Sienna, Angel and even a neighbor indoor/outdoor cat. Angel has stayed on and for a year and a half there was a mouthy old boy, Rex.

After a year of my hanging out with a stray cat from outside, we brought her in when the apartment office threatened to go cat wrangling. She’s opinionated and just wants to be spoiled. She had moderate dental disease and had several teeth removed at the vet’s office from having feline resorptive lesions (FORLS).

She hates Stewart’s stupid face.

Stewart joined us in Fall 2012. He’s a tuxedo male that was fully intact and came out of nowhere to play with Dismal at his children at the bus stop. He had an aversion to needles and even bit me in the face the first two trips to the clinic for vaccines and a neuter. He’s gotten much better, but he will be staying here. He has asthma. He receives inhaled steroids every day. Go Go Gadget- Broken CAT!

Yue, Amalie, and Stewart live with 2 little parrots. Amalie is still of indeterminate age as the oldest. We lost Tommy January 2022.