damn it. my cat wore me down. i might be a cat person.

[vash]

i've told this story before. wife and i went to adopt a second cat. she gave me blank check. i wanted a gray tabbie, after hearing stories about how friendly they were. i wanted female.

i chose "Cleopatra"..while the tech was opening the plexiglas gage, a felt a paw on my head. i turn around and this tiny gray tabbie was stabbing her arm out of one of the small vent holes and patting my ballcap. done..i said, "no..this one". i named her "pebbles" because that is just about how big her head was..she never even looked up at that name..i said, "you like Fergie better?". she came running..no kidding.

she is honestly the best dog we have. she comes running at her name better than my dog. if i'm outside talking to neighbors, she sits next to us..when i leave she follows me home at my heels.

she got a little bit fatter and that is a good thing. her body fat pretty much stopped her from killing things. a bird can walk right by her. LAZY!
she head butts me to wake me up. super funny. watching tv..she has to sit on me, leaving my wife alone..with the dog next to her.

when i got back recently from Japan..she came sprinting!! she jumped up on the couch next to me, started pawing the air, and she let out a long minute long wail. she WAILED! i picked her up and she was instantly quiet.

that day, i chose the cat from the room with the animals on their "last day". i've often wondered what happened to Cleopatra. if i didnt already have a cat, we would have gotten her as well.

i'm not sure if i will get another cat, but i am damn well enjoying this one. crazy!! she is technically my first cat. the other one never gave a crap about me unless i was opeinng up a can of food. cats: who knew?

[Don Ro]

I hate cats.
Thanks for letting me share.

[masraum]

Cats and dogs, both can be great. In the rodeo, I root for the bull

[Evans, Marv]

Face it! You got the second cat because of your secret, deep, abiding love for the first one. You just wanted to spread it around.

[scottmandue]

I was raised in a house with cats so my cat-fu is strong.
Yes, they don't spew unconditional love like dogs do (I love dogs too) .
Like many things in life you get out of a relationship with a cat what you put into it.
Having said that they also have distinct personalities.
We have:
Chrisy = Maine Coon mix, the aloof princes... she has her moment when she will accept affections but only on her terms... try to pet her when she is not in the mood at your own risk. She is momma's cat, wife can pick her up and hug her anytime... me, not so much.
Lily = Flame point Siamese mix papa's girl, cubby love bug, sleeps in bed with us most nights, will put her nose in your face while you are sleeping and MEOW! Used to play fetch but seems to have retired from that.
Marshal = Also a mix breed but he has the markings of some special type of breed, I picked him out of the box, I wanted a boy because they are more whacky... he has not disappointed (zooms around the house for no apparent reason)... he will sit next to you for a minute on the couch or bed but he is always in high alert mode... wife is afraid he is not very affectionate but he is just young and I think he will mellow with age.

A very young Chrisy helping me with computer setup:


Marshal clowning for the camera:


Lily in the box:

[Don Ro]

I had three cats in my days...loved them all.
.
Pinot - named after the Pinot Noir my g/f and I shared the first night we had the cat.
.
Candle - she loved to paw candle flames.
.
Bags - a buddy and I were approached by some girls with a box full of kittens.
We called him "Flea Bag" at first, for obvious reasons.
Then, "Bags" for short.
I sported a beard at the time and he used to love to dig for a tit in my beard.
Loved that little guy.
But I don't care for cats any more.

[Bugsinrugs]

I am really not a cat person even though I have two. Their job is to keep the mice and rats from my p- car. There are some cats that are more like dogs. Switched at birth.....shared DNA ? Who knows?

[Rick V]

I love cats, and we just lost the most docile kind lovable cat I have ever known so we are down to three.
I have a cat that wailes every day when I come home, when I travel she screams when she sees me with a suitcase and she is on my lap right now as I type. She is a cold blooded killer, and will rip anybody a new one for simply being in her house. If Beth and I snuggle on the couch she gets mad and forces herself between us.
The day she found me she was in a cage from the local ASPCA at the pet store. I opened the cage to pick up one my daughter wanted to see and this one walked up my arm, sat on my shoulder and just looked at me. Yeah She had to have me. The one we just lost is very hard to now have around, but when this one goes it is going to be devastating. Her name is Panzer and only I am safe around her. Lord help a mouse that manages to find it's way in here

[Cajundaddy]

As you have discovered, cats often choose their owners, not the other way around. We always had cats and dogs until the last stray was rescued from a tree and brought home. She was white with a touch of black on one paw and quickly became daddy's girl. She was always gentle and affectionate and rarely got into mischief but shed fur constantly and I gradually became allergic to fur all over my lap, shirts, jackets... everything.

We also had hounds and this particular cat was deathly afraid and never made peace with them. The dogs sensed this and she was the only pet out of 12 that they might consider prey. One day they caught her out back when we weren't home and the dogs got her and made short work of it. A very sad day. The hounds are now gone too and the threat of allergy prevents me from bringing another cat in the house. I do still like em though.

[Don Ro]

Years ago I met a lady at a Stanford Bachelor Club event...she invited me to a gathering of a few friends.
I arrived early and the first thing I noticed was cat hair all over her furniture.
She asked me to assist her in her preparation.
When she asked that I retrieve something from her fridge, I saw cat hairs hanging down from the wire shelves.
I lost my appetite and left early that evening...never to return her calls.
I shake my head to this day.
I just can't do cat hair...and dog hair, either for that matter.
.
Was invited to a lady's place last month...we met through Match.com.
She has a Lab.
The salsa dish on her coffee table had strands of dog hair in it.
I left early...needless to say.
.
What's up with people like this?

[yetibone]

We just lost our 17 year old calico about 3 weeks ago. She had been with us for 16 years, and came as a free gift with the $300 hot tub I bought off my neighbor. That was her home, and when we moved her house, she came along too. Almost feral when she showed up, she made friends with our first cat, Junior, and eventually warmed up to Sue, and I. For many years, she was a very affectionate lap-cat, with a great matronly instinct. She loved to groom Squeaky, our second tom-cat, and the one that wandered up during an ice storm in 2001. She never swatted at offensively, or clawed another feline, or human in our house. We miss her.

<sniff>

So, five days after Sheba ascended to kitty heaven, I go out into the garage, and see something run away from the door, and go outside the garage as I walk up. I proceed out onto the driveway, and hear a kitten talking from under the travel trailer, and he's obviously asking me for something. I go back inside and get some food, and a bowl. I set it down, then back away to give the kitty some space, and he instantly commenced to eating all of what I put down in just a few seconds. I go back inside and get him some more, and a bowl of water. Without hesitation, he let me scratch his head, and then instantly turned into "Ram Kitty with Prairie Dog tendencies". My wife got home, and we spent a few hours with this 7 month old, 9 lb. marble-tabby with huge balls, and soon considered ourselves the caretakers of a 5 cat household once again.

Only other time something like that happened was a couple of weeks after my Dad passed away, and a full-blood, 110 lb Great Dane showed up. Mom told me that Dad always said that if reincarnation was real, he wanted to come back, and be a big dog in the next life. That dog was my Mother's shadow for a little over 9 years. After I moved out of the house, she didn't fear being alone out in the styx, so long as Loki was by her side. He was a very gentle dog, with an intimidating stature, sorta like a Rottweiler. If anybody drove up, he'd bark a few times, and greet them at their driver's side door. Only the strangers didn't know he only wanted to say hi, and try to solicit a 'lil scratch behind his ears.

[ckelly78z]

We currently have 3 house cats and a coupla friendly barn cats. When I sit down for the evening in my lazyboy chair, I instantly have at least one on my lap, and another on the arm of the chair. My 70 lb Austrailian Sheppard usually butts them out of the way for some lap time and a good ear scritch.

[sebastianroher]

So sorry to hear for your loss. My wife and I just lost our first pet together. Our silver Egyptian Mau named Kittums. Hopefully everything works out with your new kitten!

[flyenby]

My Siamese cat is almost like a dog ....

[afterburn 549]

If cats choose their owners......I have this feral cat.
I am not sure if it has choose me..
Or just likes to watch.
Not sure why it sort of likes me.
I have not ever fed it or invited it into the house.
In fact i have not ever seen it!
Its not so bad, it follows me around when i do not look . (I see its tracks in the snow)
It gives me the eerie feeling as its presence always shows up at my most forget full moment.
I do not know what to feed it, as is here then gone for a undetermined time .Could be a couple weeks, or a month.
I have bought two out door cameras to try to get a glimpse of this feline .
Yesterday, i meandered to the shop about mid morn and there his tracks again in the Fresh snow .
He had showed in the day light since my 1st dispatch 2 hours B4.
I followed his highness to the cars where it had inspected, over to the other junk stuff then back up to the deer trail.
I put my hand dwn to rough measure his imprints.
They are about 5.5 to six inches inches across.

[oldE]

Cat person here.

We've had a neutered male named "Nuit" (french for "Night" as he was pure black) who would come at a whistle from anywhere on the property. He was a stray who knew when he had fallen into the good life. The next cat we adopted had been an apartment cat and had never been outdoors. Nuit would lead her around the yard, teaching her how to hunt and get around, bring her back to the door and "Meow" until we let her in, then go off to get some work done.

When my FIL was in his 80s, we got a rescue tabby "for the barn". Ha! " Sailor" soon found his place and that place was wherever my FIL was. In the house in front of the TV, Sailor was on his lap. If FIL took the four wheeler (quad) to work on fences or his gardens or check on the oxen, Sailor would go with him and usually sit on the gas tank and ride around.

When my FIL passed, Sailor would go to the barn with my MIL when she looked after the horse. Now the horse is gone, the two seniors keep each other company.
Oh, Sailor won't drink from a water dish any more. He sits beside the walk-in shower and "meows" until someone turns on the water for a second or two. Then he drinks.

Best
Les

[Rick V]

It is best to remember that dogs have masters, and cats have staff

[Don Ro]

"...and cats have staff "
~~~~~~~~~
That pretty much captures it.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Always liked dogs. Cats---pfffft!

Then along came a life altering experience called --- marriage.
Me - “Well, you can get A (as in singular - one!) cat --- but I get to name it.”
Her - (with an upturned eyebrow) “O...K."

“Frankenstein” (she called him Frank) lived to be almost 20.

Went cat-less for several years.

Then when her father passed, we inherited his black cat. His name already set.

While her sister was visiting (Note to males: beware the doubling-down effect of two females with similar DNA) and I was outnumbered, they bring home a kitten from a rescue. He and his siblings apparently born on top of a car engine. He, the only survivor, suffering the indignity (and certain pain) of having his right rear paw burnt off on a hot exhaust manifold. Surrendering to them (I had to - her sister is a redhead!) I reminded her of our deal.

“Stumpy” has adopted me. He follows me around, lays in my lap, and cries when I leave the house. My favorite line now, when new people meet him; “He’s always looking for his PAW."

Once he get older, goes off to school and then finally understands the sick irony of his name---he may come home and take his revenge!

[fanaudical]

Afterburn - What part of the country do you live in? That sounds like you have a lynx around (I think cougar usually do not come that close to people habitats in the daytime unless they are getting aggressive...)