13 November 2007

Crazy Cat Lady


I proudly wear the title of the Crazy Cat Lady of Crosby Pointe. I hope when I die I am found curled up in my bed with a good book opened next to me and surrounded by my cats.

Anyway this is in response to anonymous smacker 1116 a.m. who wrote: "Nell, I'm sorry to go off topic but your cat is just gorgeous. I'm a cat lover myself but we can't have any here because my hubby is allergic to them. My oldest son used to bring home every stray he found and at one time we had 4 cats."

Thanks 11:16 a.m. The photo you refer to is of Wexford. He is a very elegant cat who is very photogenic. He is 3 1/2 years old, weighs about 18 pounds, and is a big wuss of a cat. He is afraid of his own shadow. He is a gentle giant. His sister Kilkenny is a grey tortoise shell. Lately she seems to have developed anxiety. I'm not sure why. I would think she had hyperthyroidism except she's getting fatter, not thinner. I may end up taking her to the vet. Wexford and Kilkenny joined me 3 1/2 years ago after I saw an ad in the paper. I was planning just to take the female but I couldn't leave the male; the rest of the litter had been adopted already. I had never had a male car before and was a little concerned, having heard about spraying their territory and being aggressive. My fears ended up being unfounded. Now I think I'll only take male cats, they seem more gentle.

I was happy with 2 cats. I should mention, I have had cats all my life. The 2 cats I had before Wexford and Kilkenny had gone over the rainbow bridge a few months previously. My younger son mentioned he wanted a cat as did my friend Jess. So I called the lady I had gotten my 2 kitties from. Well, Wexford and Kilkenny's mom was expecting another litter in a few weeks. She had 4 kittens. The owner planned to keep one. My son would only take 1, Jess wanted only 1, so that left 1 lone kitty. That kitty became my 3rd cat, Donegal. He is all gray. He and his siblings are now 1 1/2 years old. They are much smaller than their older siblings. Different fathers maybe? The mom cat is quite small.Wexford, Kilkenny, and Donegal keep me entertained. They love to be outside on my 4th floor balcony. They go crazy over the birds. I expect Donegal will one day leap off the balcony in pursuit of a bird.

11:16 a.m., you mentioned allergies. I actually am allergic to cats. I have severe persistent asthma, which developed a few years ago. When my cats were kitties they bothered me but as they scratched me in playing I became less allergic to them. My pulmonologist makes me bathe them weekly, they hate it but it does help. I also run hepa filters in the house and vacuum frequently. If I go to other homes with cats I am bothered but my own cats no longer bother me. I have a pulmonologist who thinks no one should have cats and an oncologist who thinks all cancer patients should have cats as part of their treatment. So I follow my oncologist's advice. She has 2 cats herself. If I didn't have cats I'd need a psychiatrist, cats are cheaper.

This photo is of Kilkenny looking out the window, wishing she was an outside cat.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi there!

I'm the anonymous 11:16 smacker who posted earlier.

Remember I mentioned 4 cats? One went to the other side of the rainbow about 3 years ago. Jack, Sasha, & Pipi went to live with my mom and I miss them something awful. My oldest son, the one who would bring home every stray, has asthma. When our doctor told me we had to get rid of the cats, my son started to cry and the doctor said it was okay to keep them as long as we ran Hepa air cleaners round the clock. My husband has SEVERE allergies to cats. When we were dating and he would visit me in my home, Pipi loved him and always tried to sit on his lap. His eyes would turn red and puffy and he would start sneezing. It was pretty bad. *sigh* I miss my babies.

It was very nice chatting with you and thanks for the shout out! Please pet your babies for me and tell them I said hi.