For Inca, Sierra, and Sable; and in Memory of Casey, PJ, Kidder, and Copy
My name is Sarah, and I'm a cat lover with a family of ... Hmm... I don't know what to call them. They pet other people's cats, but they don't want their own. My cats are very special to me--not because I don't have a husband or kids but because they are my cats. Cats provide a very special kind of companionship that is different from that of dog, husband, child, or friend. Technically, I would prefer to have all of these types of companionship in my life! If you wonder why I wrote all that, it's because I have a dog guide and have become tired of people equating her to my best friend, my child, my guardian, etc. I love my animals very much, and I hope no one ever doubts that; but they are animals and I'm not willing to give them roles or qualities they can't fulfill or possess.
I like to talk about my cats, and this is my space to do just that. This isn't a quick page with a few pics, although the pics are here. I like to tell stories, and I hope you'll stay and hear a few (aka keep scrolling).
I love cats! My experiences with cats began very early. When I was four years old, a stray pregnant cat adopted my family. She had two litters of kittens while she was with us. Sadly, she was hit by a car and killed just days after the second litter was born. Mom cried, and the experience had a profound impact on me. I must have understood, even at age five, that Mom considered her tears to be private things; but Jitterbug's death changed our house and I thought that change was important for people to know about. One of the kittens from the first litter, Peanut, remained with us and had kittens of her own. This, too, was a significant event in my life. I announced both events in a letter recorded on audiotape to my aunt and cousins. "Jitterbug has gotten killed," I announced as if reading the morning news. Of course, there was no response from the recorder, and I hadn't thought of where to go next. So I waited a moment to let it sink in before moving on: "Well, I told them that." My poor mom must have been ready to bawl again, but my botched newscaster job made her laugh instead.
Later, when I was nine, I was allowed to have a kitten of my own. She was solid black, and her name was Copy. I wrote a poem about her at some point. I was probably around ten at the time. I had her until she died when I was fourteen. We had another black kitten for a few months after that, but she was hit by a car and killed. As an adult I prefer keeping my cats indoors, away from the risk of car accidents, cold, cruel passers-by, etc. As a teenager, I didn't have that option--parents didn't want a litter box in the house, so the cats were indoor/outdoor cats.
My mom and sister brought home a new kitten for me a few weeks after Kidder died. She was a little tabby whom Mom named PJ (Plain Jane). The following summer, I was adopted by a stray calico. I was working my first job by then and convinced my parents to allow me to keep the cat if I paid for her spay. Casey's arrival presented some minor challenges for PJ, and I learned a lesson as I observed PJ's progress in adjusting to Casey's presence. I wrote about them in a story called "Moving On".
PJ lived to age nine. Casey was about four years old when she came to live with my family, and she lived to age 19 with very few health problems. Both cats eventually became my parents' cats when I went away to college in 1990. Casey remained very special to me, and I wrote a tribute page which (of course) I hope you'll visit.
In 1996, I got another black kitten, Inca. Inca was very skittish and would not allow anyone to touch her. I won her over by feeding her crackers on my bed, and she is now a real cuddler when she's not doing something better.
Inca's day as a kitten happened in three phases: bad kitty (early morning), sweet kitty (mid morning to mid-evening), and bad kitty (late evening). Listen to Inca protest as I prevented some bad kitty behavior on July 25, 1996.
So what do these phases mean? Good question. The sweet kitty phase was obviously my favorite. Inca purred, followed me around, and slept while I typed. During this time, I called her nicknames like Sweet Kitty (Are you surprised?), Kitty Bitty, Inca Binca, Inca Bincs, or just Bincs.
Ok, I'm mushy gushy when I talk to my kitty. So what? During the bad kitty phase of her kittenhood, she played chase with the dogs, knocked things off my desk, and got on the kitchen counter. (Hmmmm... Now that I think of it, she still plays chase and knocks things off my desk.)
For a while, Inca had the privilege of going outside, and I suppose she considered herself quite the caterer. The dogs at home during that time certainly thought so! Her specialties include chipmunks for an appetizer, rabbit for the main course, and bird as a side dish. In 2001, I successfully put a stop to her outside antics. She still occasionally tries to make an escape, and she discovered a new delicacy when we lived in Florida: lizards; but most of the time she is quite content to lounge and rule the roost. I've got quite a few Inca stories, so do stay tuned.
In October, 2002, Inca and I and my working dog guide, Meghan, moved to Florida, where I was doing some contract work with a company that manufactures adaptive technology for people with disabilities. We lived with two friends, each of whom had a dog guide and more than one cat. Christy had two cats, and Deedra had three. Eventually, I adopted Sierra, a little gray kitty who eventually became a lap kitty supreme, from a rescue organization. Deedra moved out later, and I adopted one of her cats who could not move with her since she was permitted only one cat. This is how Sable came to live with me. Read more about my experiences in Florida here.
When hurricane Charley came, I was evacuated and boarded my cats. They exhibited signs of stress and fear after returning home, and boarding was expensive. We were not evacuated for hurricane Frances, but the experience was very frightening for me. I determined that if I was evacuated again I would take my cats home to Indiana, and in that case I knew that I would not be able to return to Florida with them and would simply complete the move back home.
Just as the town was cleaning up and getting power back following hurricane Frances, meteorologists predicted that hurricane Ivan would make landfall in Tampa. I bought a one-way ticket to Indiana and loaded up the cats. Fortunately, the move was much less traumatic for them than the boarding had been. Ivan ended up going another direction, but the following week hurricane Jeanne passed over the Tampa area on its way out of Florida. I returned a few days later to pack and ship my belongings, and I'm now settled in the land of ice storms. The cats are all doing very well. The greatest change is in Sable. She's gone from being a rather grouchy, aloof rather-be-in-the-wild cat to a snuggly, playful housecat.
There are lots of reasons why I like cats. Here are a few.
Cats are soft. Cats are quiet (most of the time). This does not apply to Inca Bincs, who has a loud, whiny meow which she uses a lot. But I think it's cute, and I'm even learning that she has different vocalizations depending on what she wants. Cats purr Cats are good to snuggle with when I am sad. Cats don't lick my face and slobber all over me. Cats (at least my cats) like to be held. Cats don't jump up and bark loudly to greet everyone who comes to the door. My cats don't care if I mess up my whole day--they just care that I love them and pay attention to them.
I have cats all over my house. I have stuffed cats, clay cats, ceramic cats, poster cats, a cat cookie jar, and even cat dishes. It's not too obvious that I love cats, is it? :)
I have had an allergy to cats since I was nine years old. Amazingly, I live with all these cats and do not have any allergic symptoms. Are you surprised? Like my parents, you would be if you knew how I used to sneeze anytime I entered a house where cats were. I had my own cats anyway, and I gradually became able to tolerate the allergens. One of my doctors suggested during my teen years that I probably had no idea what it was like to feel good--my sinuses were 90 percent blocked, and I suffered from asthma and chronic bronchitis. That all changed in 2003. I started experimenting with aromatherapy and herbs. I've been quite pleased with my results. If you'd like to know more about those results, please visit my herbs and essential oils page.
These are just a few sound bits that I thought visitors might enjoy. Since I am blind and can't see the pictures on people's pages, I love going to pages where people have put up sound files. So these are mine.
If you have comments or questions about this page, please email me.
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