 |
| liveandlooseblogspot.com |
Pet owners are a special breed of person.
People who don't own pets think those of us who do own pets must be just a tad bit on the crazy side.
I always thought dog owners were a little bit . . . off kilter. Not all dog owners, but a select few. Of course, all of us have a "crazy cat lady" story we could tell, too.
My husband and I became cat owners back in 1995. It wasn't necessarily by choice, because with cats - they choose you, not the other way around. This is true. I know people who have purchased homes, and gotten the cat along with the house. Others have ended up adopting a neighborhood cat who decided it no longer liked living at its current residence.
We each try to blame the other for the presence of this animal in our home. "He's your cat," my husband will say, when it's time to feed the cat or do some other unpleasant chore. "You called him from the bushes," I respond, "So it's your fault."
In 1995, we'd gone camping and fishing for a week. Someone had dumped kittens off at the campground, the campground owner told us, and there was just one left. Lucky for us - or two cats might be owning us at this moment.
As my husband was checking out the campground owner's boat that fateful day, he noticed a cat sitting in the window of the home where the campground owner lived. He decided to tease the cat by meowing at it. Out of the bushes that surrounded the house bounded this:
 |
| kitty from the bushes I had always wanted a cat anyway, so it was no trouble to feed this little guy, but after a week it was time to go home. How could I leave Thomas Cat aka Tom Cat at the campground? He'd slept in my lap, kneaded my arm, stuck his tiny claws into the window screen of the cabin we'd rented, and meowed pitifully (and loudly) as the boat pulled away from the dock. I guess the decision was made: The cat was coming home with us. He was small enough at that time, roughly five pounds, to sleep in my straw hat on the ride home. We almost put him out a few times thanks to his noxious fumes (our camping friends had been feeding him human food), but we managed. This is the cat making himself at home, that first week: |
 |
| Kitty sleeps-a-lot After the obligatory veterinary visits, we figured this was the most expensive "free" cat ever. It wasn't long before the cat formerly known as Thomas had a new nick name. For some reason, my husband decided that whatever the cat had been up to for the particular moment he had spent scrutinizing the four-footed bugger's every movement, the end result was "Ba-boo kitty," which gradually evolved into "Boo Boo," and that's the name he's been known by ever since. I blame the cat's many names on my spouse, who has a penchant for devising nicknames for any one in any circumstance. All cats have 9 lives, but not many have 62 names. For your reading pleasure, I present the many names of the Cat Formerly Known as Thomas.
We joke that the cat is so big that we need to take two pictures to get all of him.   Granted, he is a large animal: 16 lbs at his last vet visit, down from his all-time high of 21 lbs. And he can stretch to a length of about 38 inches, tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. We like to say he grew to the size of his container.  Do you have any nicknames for your pets? Or are we just crazy? |
 |
| jungle kitteh says "Meow." |
allrighty then - not sure why the numbers are *after* the names, but whatever!
ReplyDeletethere was something about a feline hoover unit that you missed!
ReplyDeleteOur dog is Mac, Mackie, Mack-a-boo, Mack-a-boo-boo, Macaroni, Macaroon, MacDougall (pronounced Mac-Doogle, of course), Boo-boo-dog, Mac-a-dog, Pain-in-the-butt-dog, Stink-head, Weirdo, Come-here-you-stupid-dog (when he has run away)...
we have nicknames for ours too!
ReplyDeleteKitty is:
Miss Kitty, Witch, Witch Cat, Cat Loaf, Fluffy Butt, Fuzzy butt, Kitty-Witch, Witchy Witch and Pain in the Ass
Geoffrey is :
Monster, Geoffy, Bonehead, Dumbass (at least I call him Dumbass) and also, Pain in the Ass.
Ok! So we aren't crazy - unless this need for nicknames is just a genetic quality only the three of us carry?
ReplyDeleteHOW could I forget: FVU - Feline Vacuuming Unit!
Well, we don't have any pets (one day I shall write about that epic fail), but I think many of the names you call your beloved feline (sooooooo cute) are actually names I call my husband ... so really, I'm thinking it is time to get a cat. Maybe I need to go skulking around some bushes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBlah...Zappa (my cat...so named because he has a goatee looking thing) is sometimes called Sh*thead, Darth Sh*thead (He looks like one of the characters from the extended Star Wars stories), The Slug, The Furslug, Sir Sluggy, Slugosaurus Rex, Darth Sluggy, Mr. Sluggy and Buddy.
ReplyDeleteI call my cat "my little pum."
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what that means or why I call him that.
My dog's name is Miss Jennie however sometimes we call her Nurse Jennie. She seems to always understand when we aren't feeling well and will hang out close by.
ReplyDeleteMy cat will hang by me when I'm not feeling well. I'm not sure if it's part of a plot or what....
ReplyDelete