________ ________ ________
2017-08-10 / \/ \/ / \
/ __/ /_ _/
A list of cats I have known, in roughly / _/ / /
the order I met them. \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
/ \/ \/ / \
Jasper was a skinny white cat that / _/ /_ _/
belonged to my parents before I was born, I /- / _/ /
don't remember too much about him except \________/\________/\___/____/
that I thought he was dangerous when I was a
kid. I assume he just didn't have time for some grabby kid invading his space.
One time he took a real swipe at me because I wanted to pat him or play with
him or something and he wasn't into it, he caught me right under my eye. It's
probably the only clear memory I have of him. Later he got quite sick and
passed before we moved to the desert.
A couple moves later we adopted a beautiful tortoiseshell named Pepsi, she
was really great. I remember her being super vocal, she'd just chatter on at
you while you were doing whatever and I remember her having a purr like a
chainsaw motor. She was the cat I grew up with. She loved to hang out with us
but also would disappear into the tall grass for days on her own. I'm not sure
what ever happened to her, I moved out of home while she was still around,
then my mom moved interstate and it gets muddy after that. She either left her
with a friend while she organised somewhere to live and she ran away from
there or something else happened and mom just didn't want to own up to it. I
was heartbroken when I found out, especially the story my mom told. She was
family, you don't fucking leave family behind when you move. Cats don't
understand, to her she was just left in a weird place with no idea what was
going on, of course she's going to bolt and she's going to try and get home
and there's going to be no one there for her. How must that have felt? I
forgive my mom a lot of things, she's human and has her own stresses and
problems, but I'll never forgive that. Still upsets me to think about it, even
though it's an old wound.
Later in life, when I was really struggling I moved back in with my family
and at that time my sister adopted a big white cat named Jarvis. He was very
cheeky in his youth. At the time I was more-or-less homeless, sleeping on
mom's sofa and at night, every night, as soon as the lights went out Jarvis
would run up and down the top of the sofa with his claws out, making as much
noise as he could. He'd always be fighting too, or just out in the front
drive, yelling into the night. We still ended up pretty good pals though. He
mellowed out in his old age, and mostly likes to just eat and chill out now,
but he's still occasionally getting into scuffles with other cats. Remind me
to sneak him some treats next time I see him.
Mana is my brother's partner's cat, she's black and white and I'm pretty
sure she's had her since before they moved in together. I haven't spent that
much time with her, just see her when we visit but she seems really sweet.
Always comes up for a scratch. She's been put out somewhat by their young sons
but she seems to be doing ok.
Smokey belonged to my former housemate, she was small and grey, hence the
name. She's got quite a story. He wanted to adopt a cat and so went to a
shelter for a rescue and, as there always is, lots of lovely babies needing a
home. Smokey caught his eye but the staff were apprehensive. She had come from
a bad home and was very violent and unfriendly and difficult. He was set on it
though, she was the cat for him but while they were sorting everything out, I
forget exactly what happened but she injured herself somehow, I think she may
have thrown a tantrum when they tried to chip her or vax her or something. But
either way, he had to leave her overnight and pick her up in the morning
instead. Maybe this was them trying to give him one last chance to back out
hahaha.
Now let me tell you how violent they meant when they said she was violent:
crazy fucking violent. If she was a dog she would have been put down
immediately, I'm not exaggerating. Thankfully she was a tiny cat. The normal
behaviour of an angry cat is to yell and hiss at you, maybe take a swipe and
then back off, because a human is exponentially bigger than a cat and in a
real fight they don't stand a chance but when a cat is play-fighting with a
human they'll hold on and bite or kick a bit because they know it's play-
fighting, even if they're a bit rough. Smoke would come at you like her life
was in mortal danger and escape wasn't so much through you as much as it was
buried inside you. She would latch on and cut you deep, my housemate would
play-fight with her and the scars on his wrists and arms made him look like he
self-harmed. I never got it that bad because she'd mostly come around my room
to chill but she still got more than a few good blows in.
I always found it interesting that she never hissed or growled or fluffed
up so she was never threatened or scared, it was just play, but she played
rough and didn't intend to lose. Apart from that rough streak she really was
very cute and sweet, when she came home she was scrawny and had a messed up
nose from stress and fighting and it was really a pleasure to have seen her
get happy and comfortable, my housemate really did good by her.
Later we went separate ways and he moved across town, there he adopted
another cat named Solomon, which is another interesting story. He was skinny
and dirty and my friend just started feeding him because he's a good guy, then
took him in. Solomon was the name he gave him. Got him desexed and chipped and
he got fat and happy. Later, his neighbors came by asking for their cat back.
Apparently they'd gone away and just left him with some food in the yard or
something like that? I forget the exact details but he more or less told them
to go fuck themselves and good on him. By the time I met him Solomon was very
round but also very handsome and he had the thickest fur of any cat I've ever
seen. I remember him being pretty gentle but my friend assures me he can get
mean if you mess with his food.
For the record; he did have to keep Solomon and Smoke separate for the most
part because of her attitude but they managed. Later he met a girl and
married, I think they have five cats between them now haha.
Lastly is Toby. Toby was my fiance's family's cat from well before we knew
each other and he was a long, slinky Siamese. He was very handsome. His health
got bad but I got to spend some time with him when we went to visit last year.
I apologised for taking his princess from him and was glad I got to see them
together. He passed away not long after that visit but I'll always treasure
sitting with him, listening to birds in the lazy Washington morning sun.
