17 August 2010

Old kitty

So today our loyal old Russian Blue (who's gray) turns 14. Ryan and I adopted her from a litter of kittens born on my parents' farm the very first summer we were together and, for better or worse, Miss Alice "Allie" Cooper, has been in our lives ever since. We had taken Ryan on our family vacation to Minnesota that year, along with my Nanny and Papaw, and Ryan wrangled the newborn kittens out from under the deck the night we returned home from the trip. She is the longest-living pet I've ever had, has lived in 2 apartments and 5 houses with us and and seems braced for many a year to come. Sadly our blonde kitty Avrie, a shelter find just a year or two after Allie was born, has no recorded birthdate, so we let her celebrate along with her sister and BFF. We'll say she's 13. And while we're at it, my black kitty Maya Angelou was my birthday present one August 2 years ago (or is it 3?), so I guess Alice will have to share her special day with the outdoor cat who could give or take the rest of us. I know a lot of people just do not care for cats, and the hair on the furniture and hairballs spat out in the most inconvenient of places (and a few even more unpleasant surprises left on my bathroom rug here lately) do certainly get tiresome. But it's hard to imagine our life without these old girls in it. They've just always been with us.

"A dog, I have always said, is prose. A cat is a poem."~Jean Burden

Lots of great snippets of wisdom for cat lovers at www.quotegarden.com/cats.html.

5 comments:

acorn hollow said...

Love your old kitties. We have a 16 year old cat that adopted us. She was a stray that thought we looked like a good place to stay, she was a kitten. we have had her since my daughter was 11 and now she is 27 married and having a baby of her own and miss Sadie has seen us through it all.

ClassyChassy said...

Cats are not for everyone, that is for sure. I never cared for cats until I got my first apartment and wanted a companion - and a dog would not do! I've had several cats since then, and they can be charming, and annoying, on any given day - but they make wonderful buddies!

farmlady said...

We are such dog people but we have had some amazing cats live with us in our married life.
Our first cat was called Babe. We found her too young to be alone and had to feed her watered down baby cereal with a dropper. She sucked on my ear, poor thing....but she survived and lived with us for 17 years.
Cats are so interesting.
Thanks for introducing us to yours.

Lisa said...

Oh how great! Kitty birhday! How fun! How nice to have such sweet old ladies! I saw your reading List! The Sugar Queen is awesome, I love all her books but think that is my favorite! The Great Gatsby was my favorite from School, only book I read all the way through in High School, I didn't really read until well into college! Enjoy the books!
Hugs, Lisa

Big Six Stables said...

I think I'm definitely more of a dog person but I can't imagine life without my Daisy. Isn't it crazy to think how much they've been through with you?!?! Daisy just turned 13 and has been though about eight moves and lived in three states now. The older she gets the nicer she gets. Of course, she has us all in check. Happy birthday to your sweet kitty.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails