"THE CAT IS NOT A DOG"
i'm often accused of being easily amused and finding everything too amazing but i went to see Cat's (based on T.S. Eliot's wonderful Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats) last night and it really was amazing! i felt like bursting into tears, i was so happy to be there - not just in the theatre but to be surrounded by and getting to know the cats themselves. the dreamlike marvel is so terribly magical for one like myself who spends countless hours just watchin my own cats. this was my second time around and it dawned on me last night that the last time i saw this show i still hadn't lived with a cat yet. i've always loved cats but it wan't until i got one that i began to realize the depths of their individuality. my cats were never pets to me, just little people. they are, in a way, my best friends. they're not cats that i have but the characters i live with.
last night i swore that i had met every cat in the play in real life! even my 3 cats were in the play. i have often thought my cats were attending secret meetings in my absence and were annoyed by me when i'd thwart thier plans every now and then by going home early. my parents weren't big animal people - actually animals made no sense to them if u weren't gonna eat 'em so i didn't have any pets growning up. i sortta adopted my best friend's cat as my honorary pet. Garfield was much like the cartoon, big, orange and just grand. he liked to eat olives and had feline immune deficiency syndrome. i remember in grade school we used to have birthday parties for Garfield and we baked little easy-bake cakes that i'm pretty sure we shared with the cat. he died about 2 yrs ago at the ripe old age of 15 or 16, i think it was. it was hard watching him grow old and turn senile. it was harder letting him go. i went when he was put down and i swear it hurt me physically. Garfield was Gus from the play. he had lived a long and dignified life earning the right to brag about his glory days during the later parts of his life. this is my homage.
i got my first cat, Meowzer, 5 yrs ago. i went to the SPCA with my roomate,who was lookin for a dog but thank god she didn't get one! i'm not much of a dog person so i hung out in the back with the cats - all 3 of 'em. bad time of year to get a cat i guess, the pickin's were slim - but i wasn't there to get a cat anyway. Meowzer was the size of a small adult cat at just 4 months. he kept reachin his little paw through the bars of the cage and taunting me to play with him. i kept trying to get away as i could feel my reslove to resist waning and i really didn't feel i was ready for a cat yet. i had 4 rabbits at the time that had the run of the place, i was worried a cat might hurt 'em. i wanted a cat like nothing else but i thought i'd train myself for the responsibility with rabbits first (which turned out to be much more work than cats!) and since the rabbits were there first, i didn't feel it would be fair to bring someone home that they might percieve as a predator. after about 3.5 hours i couldn't do it any longer. Meowzer won, i signed the papers, packed him up and officially became the happiest gal on earth. i spent the next year glued to him - i couldn't stop watching him!
Meowzer's a gorgeous, gynormous tabby (the last i checked he was closin on 21 LBS). he looks exactly like what u would think a cat should look like, as jerry was so fond of saying. he looks alot like Munkustrap from the play (who is sorta the master of ceromonies and leader of the cats, 2nd only to Old Deuteronomy) but Meowzer's not nearly as stately nor comanding. personality-wise Meowzer's actually alot like the Rum Tum Tugger (the one i call the elvis-cat). he's aloof and absolutely full of himself. his favorite food is the bubbles in my bubble bath (although he does seem to swallow everythin that fits into his mouth) and his favorite game is make believing that he's a really ferocious cat. he is also known as the Big Cat.
Meowzer started sitting at the window and meowing after a coupla months. i soon realized that he was meowing at other cats in the street. i figured he was terribly lonely and i as a human could only understand so much. i decided he needed a pet. it was around spring time when i did this so i figured there would be at least a few kittens to choose from. i had decided that i didn't want another tabby - i thought they were sorta plain as far as cats went. i knew i wanted a kitten tho. much to my disappointment there were only 2 kittens there and they were sisters, one a tabby and the other black and white. they were in a cage with their mom, an old, well worn in cat. i spent the next 4 hrs fightin the urge to take all 3 of'em home. i couldn't bare the thought of seperating them.
i had decided to take the 2 kittens. no wait, then the poor mom would be left all alone and she looks so tired. she really needs someone to take care of her. i’ll hafta take all 3. no, that’s too many – i can’t take care of that many animals! but i was gonna take the 2 kittens, what's 1 more? (i still had 4 rabbits). maybe iI’ll just take the mom – no one ever wants the older cats, everybody’s lookin for kittens. O but look at how cute those kittens r! this was not an easy fight – i’m a pretty stubborn when it comes down to it. the mom and the black and white were sleepin the whole time i was there, the whole – very long – while. the little tabby (the one that looked a bit like a runt) tho was playing with one of the plastic balls with a bell inside of it. she was literally bouncing off the walls! she would bat the ball into the wall of the cage and hurtle her little body after it till she caught it and wrestled it to the ground and then she would kick it free again. i felt like she was putting on a show just for me. she was a blur of fuzzy fur. i took 1 deep breath, charged towards the forms and spat out “the tabby! I’ll take the tabby! quick before I change my mind!” i had finally decided that Meowzer, being just a kitten himself and lazy as heck to boot, needed a ball of energy to hang out with. the tabby would be perfect. i was told however that they weren’t ready for adoption yet, they were too young. this would never do – i’m not exactly known for my patience. when then?!?! i think the woman had to check with 3 different supervisors before they agreed that it was close enough and boy, what a nice girl i was to hang out at the SPCA all day! – nice? crazy with indecision, more like. so i got my little tabby and ran for the hills.
Meowzer’s hind legs were white so jerry had suggested Sox as a name. i obviously decided otherwise but i thought it was cute nonetheless. i had thought about naming Meowzer’s pet Sox but didn’t feel it was much of a girl name. she also had white hind legs and the tips of her front paws were also white so I decided she would be Mittens. it was love at first sight! Meowzer loved his new pet. i was worried at first that i wouldn’t love Mittens as much cuz i was so insanely in love with Meowzer, i didn’t think it could be possible to love anything else as much – or at all, for that matter. luckily i really do just love cats that much and i’ve realized that i don’t even care what they look like, what color, what breed, gender…none of it mattered. u cease to see these things when they become people.
Mittens is mischievous much like Rumpleteazer in the play (and Mittens & Meowzer certainly act alot like Rumpleteazer & Mungojerrie when they're together) but more fittingly i'd say she's Demeter. Mitten's is acutely aware of her surroundings, brave and tough like heck just like Demeter who is the first to notice the audience in the play and check out what she does in the 2nd act with Macavity. Mittens' favorite food is french fries and her favorite game is anything knockin cups over. she can't stand it when cups r upright. i've spent hours with her knockin 'em on their side and me puttin 'em back upright for her to knock 'em back over. Meowzer's 2nd favorite game is meowing at Mittens, asking if he can hit her. it's sounds somethin like "come on, just once, it won't even hurt." when she says no, he cries, pretends like he's mad then pretends that he doesn't care.
as fate (or the vet) would have it, a few months later, yet another cat chose me to take her home. it was one of my many many visits to the vet. there was a cat in a hamster cage meowing at me and gesturing for me to approach her. the vet asked if i wanted to hold her and it was all over for me. she was silky and grey, with white on her paws, her chest and underbelly. one of her ears is torn. half her tail is missin and what's left was broken in 3 different places. the vet said that the previous owners abused the cat. she was rescued and lived at the fraser valley animal shelter for a while where the staff called her Ann Landers and absolutely adorded her. but Ann was scheduled to be put down cuz she was takin too long to get adopted and there just simply was no more room for at the shelter so she was sent to my vet who takes on their overflow from time to time to save a few animals. he keeps them in his office and finds them new homes. but even this set up had an expiration date. at the time his office was packed, hence the cat in a hamster cage. it was the sadest thing i ever saw. the vet asked if i would foster Ann for "a few days" - just till he cleared some room for her in the office. he later admitted to knowing full well that i would never have the heart to bring her back knowing what her fate was.
and so the 7th member of our family was brought home and renamed Cookie (cuz she looks like she's had too many). i wasn't crazy about Ann Landers or a cat named Ann. Cookie loves people - even the strangers. she starts purrin like an engine when ever anyone gets near her. she can't be close enough to people. she loves everyone. Cookie is none other than Grizzilla. she is sad. she used to have nightmares and cry while she was sleeping. the other cats hate her and she wants nothing more than to be accepted and loved. she's a special cat to have been treated the way she was and still loves peole the way she does. the first coupla weeks i had her, jerry and i thought she would, at any moment, break into song and sing Memory.Cookie's favorite food is chinese pineapple buns and her favorite game is being loved and cuddled. she is also known as the Cat Slut. Meowzer's third favorite game is beatin the shit outta Cookie.
and so after the crazy roomate left, after a career change, after quiting a few jobs and findin new ones, after moving out of my parents basement, after moving to an our very own apt, after jerry left, after the rabbits all passed away from old age, after 5 years, them 3 r still my happy home.
last night i swore that i had met every cat in the play in real life! even my 3 cats were in the play. i have often thought my cats were attending secret meetings in my absence and were annoyed by me when i'd thwart thier plans every now and then by going home early. my parents weren't big animal people - actually animals made no sense to them if u weren't gonna eat 'em so i didn't have any pets growning up. i sortta adopted my best friend's cat as my honorary pet. Garfield was much like the cartoon, big, orange and just grand. he liked to eat olives and had feline immune deficiency syndrome. i remember in grade school we used to have birthday parties for Garfield and we baked little easy-bake cakes that i'm pretty sure we shared with the cat. he died about 2 yrs ago at the ripe old age of 15 or 16, i think it was. it was hard watching him grow old and turn senile. it was harder letting him go. i went when he was put down and i swear it hurt me physically. Garfield was Gus from the play. he had lived a long and dignified life earning the right to brag about his glory days during the later parts of his life. this is my homage.
i got my first cat, Meowzer, 5 yrs ago. i went to the SPCA with my roomate,who was lookin for a dog but thank god she didn't get one! i'm not much of a dog person so i hung out in the back with the cats - all 3 of 'em. bad time of year to get a cat i guess, the pickin's were slim - but i wasn't there to get a cat anyway. Meowzer was the size of a small adult cat at just 4 months. he kept reachin his little paw through the bars of the cage and taunting me to play with him. i kept trying to get away as i could feel my reslove to resist waning and i really didn't feel i was ready for a cat yet. i had 4 rabbits at the time that had the run of the place, i was worried a cat might hurt 'em. i wanted a cat like nothing else but i thought i'd train myself for the responsibility with rabbits first (which turned out to be much more work than cats!) and since the rabbits were there first, i didn't feel it would be fair to bring someone home that they might percieve as a predator. after about 3.5 hours i couldn't do it any longer. Meowzer won, i signed the papers, packed him up and officially became the happiest gal on earth. i spent the next year glued to him - i couldn't stop watching him!
Meowzer's a gorgeous, gynormous tabby (the last i checked he was closin on 21 LBS). he looks exactly like what u would think a cat should look like, as jerry was so fond of saying. he looks alot like Munkustrap from the play (who is sorta the master of ceromonies and leader of the cats, 2nd only to Old Deuteronomy) but Meowzer's not nearly as stately nor comanding. personality-wise Meowzer's actually alot like the Rum Tum Tugger (the one i call the elvis-cat). he's aloof and absolutely full of himself. his favorite food is the bubbles in my bubble bath (although he does seem to swallow everythin that fits into his mouth) and his favorite game is make believing that he's a really ferocious cat. he is also known as the Big Cat.
Meowzer started sitting at the window and meowing after a coupla months. i soon realized that he was meowing at other cats in the street. i figured he was terribly lonely and i as a human could only understand so much. i decided he needed a pet. it was around spring time when i did this so i figured there would be at least a few kittens to choose from. i had decided that i didn't want another tabby - i thought they were sorta plain as far as cats went. i knew i wanted a kitten tho. much to my disappointment there were only 2 kittens there and they were sisters, one a tabby and the other black and white. they were in a cage with their mom, an old, well worn in cat. i spent the next 4 hrs fightin the urge to take all 3 of'em home. i couldn't bare the thought of seperating them.
i had decided to take the 2 kittens. no wait, then the poor mom would be left all alone and she looks so tired. she really needs someone to take care of her. i’ll hafta take all 3. no, that’s too many – i can’t take care of that many animals! but i was gonna take the 2 kittens, what's 1 more? (i still had 4 rabbits). maybe iI’ll just take the mom – no one ever wants the older cats, everybody’s lookin for kittens. O but look at how cute those kittens r! this was not an easy fight – i’m a pretty stubborn when it comes down to it. the mom and the black and white were sleepin the whole time i was there, the whole – very long – while. the little tabby (the one that looked a bit like a runt) tho was playing with one of the plastic balls with a bell inside of it. she was literally bouncing off the walls! she would bat the ball into the wall of the cage and hurtle her little body after it till she caught it and wrestled it to the ground and then she would kick it free again. i felt like she was putting on a show just for me. she was a blur of fuzzy fur. i took 1 deep breath, charged towards the forms and spat out “the tabby! I’ll take the tabby! quick before I change my mind!” i had finally decided that Meowzer, being just a kitten himself and lazy as heck to boot, needed a ball of energy to hang out with. the tabby would be perfect. i was told however that they weren’t ready for adoption yet, they were too young. this would never do – i’m not exactly known for my patience. when then?!?! i think the woman had to check with 3 different supervisors before they agreed that it was close enough and boy, what a nice girl i was to hang out at the SPCA all day! – nice? crazy with indecision, more like. so i got my little tabby and ran for the hills.
Meowzer’s hind legs were white so jerry had suggested Sox as a name. i obviously decided otherwise but i thought it was cute nonetheless. i had thought about naming Meowzer’s pet Sox but didn’t feel it was much of a girl name. she also had white hind legs and the tips of her front paws were also white so I decided she would be Mittens. it was love at first sight! Meowzer loved his new pet. i was worried at first that i wouldn’t love Mittens as much cuz i was so insanely in love with Meowzer, i didn’t think it could be possible to love anything else as much – or at all, for that matter. luckily i really do just love cats that much and i’ve realized that i don’t even care what they look like, what color, what breed, gender…none of it mattered. u cease to see these things when they become people.
Mittens is mischievous much like Rumpleteazer in the play (and Mittens & Meowzer certainly act alot like Rumpleteazer & Mungojerrie when they're together) but more fittingly i'd say she's Demeter. Mitten's is acutely aware of her surroundings, brave and tough like heck just like Demeter who is the first to notice the audience in the play and check out what she does in the 2nd act with Macavity. Mittens' favorite food is french fries and her favorite game is anything knockin cups over. she can't stand it when cups r upright. i've spent hours with her knockin 'em on their side and me puttin 'em back upright for her to knock 'em back over. Meowzer's 2nd favorite game is meowing at Mittens, asking if he can hit her. it's sounds somethin like "come on, just once, it won't even hurt." when she says no, he cries, pretends like he's mad then pretends that he doesn't care.
as fate (or the vet) would have it, a few months later, yet another cat chose me to take her home. it was one of my many many visits to the vet. there was a cat in a hamster cage meowing at me and gesturing for me to approach her. the vet asked if i wanted to hold her and it was all over for me. she was silky and grey, with white on her paws, her chest and underbelly. one of her ears is torn. half her tail is missin and what's left was broken in 3 different places. the vet said that the previous owners abused the cat. she was rescued and lived at the fraser valley animal shelter for a while where the staff called her Ann Landers and absolutely adorded her. but Ann was scheduled to be put down cuz she was takin too long to get adopted and there just simply was no more room for at the shelter so she was sent to my vet who takes on their overflow from time to time to save a few animals. he keeps them in his office and finds them new homes. but even this set up had an expiration date. at the time his office was packed, hence the cat in a hamster cage. it was the sadest thing i ever saw. the vet asked if i would foster Ann for "a few days" - just till he cleared some room for her in the office. he later admitted to knowing full well that i would never have the heart to bring her back knowing what her fate was.
and so the 7th member of our family was brought home and renamed Cookie (cuz she looks like she's had too many). i wasn't crazy about Ann Landers or a cat named Ann. Cookie loves people - even the strangers. she starts purrin like an engine when ever anyone gets near her. she can't be close enough to people. she loves everyone. Cookie is none other than Grizzilla. she is sad. she used to have nightmares and cry while she was sleeping. the other cats hate her and she wants nothing more than to be accepted and loved. she's a special cat to have been treated the way she was and still loves peole the way she does. the first coupla weeks i had her, jerry and i thought she would, at any moment, break into song and sing Memory.Cookie's favorite food is chinese pineapple buns and her favorite game is being loved and cuddled. she is also known as the Cat Slut. Meowzer's third favorite game is beatin the shit outta Cookie.
and so after the crazy roomate left, after a career change, after quiting a few jobs and findin new ones, after moving out of my parents basement, after moving to an our very own apt, after jerry left, after the rabbits all passed away from old age, after 5 years, them 3 r still my happy home.
posted by tunabelly at 1:52 p.m.
1 Comments:
Awww, I can't wait!!! I wonder if I'll see my cat up there - Charlie, the Crackwhore Kitty...
hmmmmm
-jaded
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