You Might Be a Crazy Cat Person If

Michael and I never considered ourselves Crazy Cat People until the number of cats in our family exceeded six.  I no longer believe the number of cats you share your home with is the only factor to be considered.  Certainly, folks who have as many or more than we do probably qualify, but we think that some of the following things and certainly a combination of them earns you a place in the Crazy Cat Person Hall of Fame.

Your cats have middle names.

Your cats have their own sound tracks.

When you do the math you realize that you could send a child or two to college on what you spend on your cats.

Your Vet’s number is on speed dial.

There is no limit to the number of cans of cat food you will open to find something to suit them all.

All of your plans including vacations and dinner out are impacted by the needs of your cats.

You have a sacred grove dedicated to them on your property.

Your cats have their own Facebook page or website.

You share food with them, off the same utensils.

You deliberate longer over naming new cats than some people do over naming their children.

They have more toys than the average first Grandchild.

You have set up a memorial area for those that have passed away.

You have more litter pans in the house than you have toilets.

You spend enough on air fresheners that you should own stock in Glade and Airwick.

You pause your favorite TV shows to watch whatever ridiculous activity they are involved in.

You feel guilty if you eat dinner before they do and still share yours with them even when you don’t.

You find yourself looking for somewhere else to sit when a cat is in your favorite chair.

You happily spend a couple of hours every day cleaning up after them.

You have cat hair tumbleweeds rolling around your house during warm weather, even though you vacuum every day.

People stare when you wear dark clothing, lint rollers can only help so much.

You own several silly t-shirts and a nightshirt or two featuring cats wearing ridiculous outfits.

No matter what you are doing, you get up every five minutes to let a cat in or out.

You suffer from leg cramps because there are so many cats in your bed that you can’t straighten your legs.

You spend too much time accounting for them all each night before you retire and search frantically for any unaccounted for.

You step in cat yak with your bare feet at least twice a week.

You have turned on the shower just so a cat could play in the water, and then dried them off afterward.

You added a special cabinet just to store cat food and have a junk drawer devoted to combs, brushes, nail clippers, meds, Petromalt……

There is not a single place in your house that is off limits, including the dining room table.

You feed some of your cats on the kitchen counter.

Your cats have holiday collars, you have the pictures to prove it!

You own a Crazy Cat Lady coffee mug and are proud of it.

Everytime a stray cat turns up in your neighborhood someone brings it to you to see if it is “one of yours” and if it isn’t it usually will be.

You carry cat treats with you “just in case.”

You find yourself singing silly made up songs to your cats.

You have a grown child who is horribly allergic to cats and you tell them to load up on drugs before they visit.

You have a pet cemetery in your back yard, with monuments.

You start a blog proudly proclaiming yourself a Crazy Cat Person.

 

 

A Time for Everything

BooBoo was not supposed to be our cat.  She came to visit one day in July 1994 because Michael’s parents were in the midst of unpacking from an international move and they were afraid she would get lost in the packing materials.  Michael’s brother Christopher had found her when he was out walking his dog in the woods near Fort Bragg, NC and simply could not find it in his heart to just leave the poor, starving, flea infested kitten to die.

God bless her, she was not a particularly cute kitten but had loads of energy and she soon took her place in Michael’s heart and became a play mate to our one year old Sprout, thus giving him someone to roughhouse with and giving the older cats Skates and Snuggles a break. BooBoo was a Tortoiseshell, but we simply called her our Mildew cat, describing her as the color one would get if they put a whole bunch of different colored cats in a bag and shook it up then BooBoo was what you would end up with. 

Early on during her “visit” I witnessed Michael interacting with her and realized that she was no longer a visitor so I too gave in and allowed myself to also fall under her spell.  As she grew we realized that she was going to be a long hair cat and soon became the beautiful creature with the human-like face that always caught the eye of anyone lucky enough to catch a glimpse of her. 

BooBoo was a feral cat, the first of many that we have shared our home with, and for the first several years she was rarely seen by any adult who did not live in our house.  BooBoo loved kids though and our daughters Lindsey and Hayley were nine and seven in the summer of 94 so she really became their cat. She loved nothing better than hanging out with them and their friends.

To say she was special somehow does not seem adequate; she was beyond special to us and to her feline brothers and sisters. Even though she was the youngest of three, in 2001 she assumed the position of Alpha Cat when our dear Snuggles passed away on Memorial Day.  She took her position very seriously and she ruled the house with an iron paw.

As the years passed, she became less and less fearful of people and would spend time with visitors, first family members and friends who visited often, and by the time we moved to Texas in 2005, she was openly engaging with anyone who entered our home.

I cannot begin to express how much joy she brought into our lives, how much laughter and how much amazement at how smart and intuitive she was.  She was a beauty in appearance and in spirit and her passing leaves a void that may always remain. We loved her and she us, not just a pet or even a family member, she was a part of us and her spirit will always be with us.

“As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”