WE ARE sooo NOT CAT PEOPLE !!! or A Tale of Four Kittys

 I recently read a blog that had posted about how she hated to read about "old ladies and their cats".  So, if by any chance the owner of that blog is reading this blog you will want to RUN not walk outta here...because I am an old lady and this is a cat post.  Fair warning I think.  Let me preface this story by saying that it's not that we didn't like cats, we just always had dogs.  We had wonderful, funny, loyal dogs too. They each stole our hearts. We are dog people.  It's not that we didn't like cats, we just never thought about having a cat because, well, we just aren't cat people.
Until we bought a 100+ year old house. The walls are plaster and lath and have a space in between.  Every year some little critter or another would decide to move in.  One time while I was reading a book late at night, a mouse would run from one corner of the living room to the other... I would see it and yell "EEEEEEK" (yup, you can't help it EEEEEEK just comes out !) that would scare it and it would run back.  I would go back to my book and then see it run across again and yell "EEEEEEK" again and once again the mouse would run back....we did this about five or six times until I gave up and went to bed.  My Sweetie finally caught the mouse and let him loose in a field. (Ah, ask him how difficult it is to find and buy a mouse trap that wouldn't kill the mouse, he said everyone looked at him like he was nuts :)) )  But I was really tired of the field mice, rats, squirrels etc. and read that just the smell of a cat would keep the critters away.  So, thinking that cats wouldn't require a lot of work or attention ( ha ha ha, but that's another story) I told my daughter I was looking for a cat.  She had a friend who worked for a vet and it just so happened that a litter of kittens, eyes yet unopened, were dumped, in a shoe box, on her doorstep.   So we acquired Willie.  That Willie was sooo darn cute and so tiny and I worried about him being home alone all day.  Now, I'm not a cat person but still he was so tiny and I didn't want him to be lonely.  There was one kitten left, his sister Wynona....so I told my daughter to bring her to us.   Now, we are NOT cat people but we have two cats.  And guess what, not a single critter has tried to move in with us.(..except the flying squirrel but that's another story too).   My Sweetie, who will swear to you that he is still NOT a cat person, would carry the kittens up the stairs until they could get up by themselves. But...he is NOT a cat person.  He would turn the water on in the bathtub and let it dribble because Willie loved to drink the running water.  I told him he had to stop that ... so he went out and bought a water fountain for them. But...he is NOT a cat person.   I always leave dry food and water out for them and would give them half can each of food in the morning. Mr. Nota CatPerson didn't think that was enough so he added another can in the PM.  Mmmmm hmmmmm.  He is SO not a cat person.  Willie and Wynona are "Hemingways" which means they have extra toes.  Shoulda known by the size of those mitts that they would grow into fairly large cats. They still think they are tiny kittens and Mr. Nota CatPerson will let them sit in his lap until his legs go to sleep...which doesn't take long :))
So we were a happy family with "two cats in the yard" ( a little nod to any Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fans here) except we don't let them out, too much danger out there.  But we do have a screened in front porch and Mr. Nota CatPerson put in  a kittie door so they could go in and out at their leisure.....Willie and Wy have been with us for about four years and I'm not sayin' that they are spoiled, they couldn't be because..well you know.
Last year we kept hearing this pitiful little wail.  It was heartbreaking.  We would see this tiny wild kitten just skin and bones, wailing.  It finally got so hungry it's fear of us lost out and it came close the the front porch,  I gave the tiny thing part of a can of food and as it gulped it down it wailed, it would gulp a bite, then wail some more.  You could see it's backbone.  Mr. Nota CatPerson  got one of the cat carriers, shoved the tiny thing in and took it to the vet.
Well, of course it was a "she", sigh.  We got her fixed, her shots etc. and the vet said "She is a real sweet heart".  and she truly is. We had to name her "Wailin" a take on Waylon.  The photo on the left was taken when she came back from the vets.  The one on the right a few weeks later.  Wailin' gives us so much joy.  She is a happy, loving kitty.
One day not much later, as I opened the door to the back deck, another tiny little thing ran in and started rubbing my legs.  Wouldn't go back out.   Poor little thing looked starved too, altho not as badly as Wailin'.  Soooo another trip to the vets by Mr. Nota CatPerson. Turns out this kitty was pretty sick and another girl kitty, sigh, two weeks of boarding, special diet, medicine,  grocery money gone (the vet loves us of course!) and now we have Wynette.
Wynette is also very loving and sweet...a bit mischevious too. Uh oh , now we ... who are NOT cat people...have four cats.  Willie, Wynona, Wailin' and Wynette. Luckily, we are out of  "W" names. This is how we ended up with four cats, even though we really are NOT cat people.  Now I'm kinda warming up to them, I just wish  Mr. Nota CatPerson, would too.  Just sayin'.
My wish for you: The love, comfort and companionship of a special dog or cat.  (())

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Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio Francie...The Scented Cottage Studio Fiksioner is a free template that suitable for personal blogging because the layout is like a journal.

20 comments

That is such a great story!!! No sounds like you guys hate cats! lol! They are all beautiful and fat now thanks to you guys and your vet:) So glad there are people like you guys in this world to take care of these sweet babies. We are not cat people either but love our kitty just the same ;)
Those are all such sweet kitties. It is so easy to have more than one cat, they find out kindred souls and adopt you, there's nothing you can do by accept the blessing. So cute that you named them all after country singers.
GARAGE SALE GAL said…
Great story and you are kind people:) 4 cats is just enough!
Your faux candy looks like the real stuff! Funny about the lady taking one.
Deb :)
Bellesanbeaus said…
Awwww the kitties are just beautiful...and congrats on not being cat people that have so many cats!!!! lol Have a great week...big hugs Beth
deb said…
What a sweet story. Gorgeous kitties!
*hugs*deb
great post...Guess what I am an old lady with 2 cats, but I figure I am not the cat lady until I have more than 2.....OOPS you have 4! that is because you are wonderful caring people!

Carol
Terra said…
Oh right, you are NOT cat people, just like my husband and I LOL. I enjoyed the stories of how your cats found you. I do believe cats choose us, and not the other way round. Each of your cats is adorable.
gail said…
Hi Francie,,, I love this post. Honey, ya all ARE cat people.. I should know, I have 5:) LOL They are are sweeties! I love orange Tabbies.
I hope you are doing great, have a nice week. (()) gail
Gretel said…
God bless all kindhearted not-cat-people! Wailin' has a look of true bliss on her face, she knows she's fallen on her feet, as they all have.
Debbie said…
Oh my goodness, I just grinned all of the way through this post! I LOVE the "Mr. Nota Catperson". So funny...

Your cats are adorable, and since I apparently married his brother, Mr. Nevergonnabea Catperson, I can enjoy yours vicariosly.

Great post!
Unknown said…
They always pick us don't they? LOL We aren't cat people either but a few weeks ago when a tiny kitten landed on our porch, what could we do but help? LOL I fell in love with her but because we have 3 large dogs who don't much care for cats, we had to find her a home. I still miss her and would love to pet her just once more - Ms. Notacat Person here.
Two cats in the yard, like used to be so hard.... Do you think that is cause they keep becoming three, four, etc.? lol Loved reading about Wailing, Willie & the girls! I admit to being a cat person, must be since we got up to seven at one point. Blame that on the starving, freezing litter we found in the wood pile last winter. We are down to six now, although the youngest is named Seven, because, well, she was #7. Your kitties are beautiful! I read somewhere that the offical number of cats you need to be "the crazy old cat lady" is nine. So, we are both safe... for now! LOL
Hugs,
Kerry
Dori said…
Dear Francie, I LUV this story. I smiled through the whole thing. You are SUCH a cat person! lol! You and your kitties are most fortunate to have found each other, and I'm thinking Mr. Nota CatPerson would really miss your little fur persons. ;-)
sandy keeler said…
I started the same way and now have about 15 at my house and another 20 at my cat shelter outside of town. So you have room for plenty more. And lately I've been saying I'm not a dog person, but somehow 7 dogs have ended up at my house (that's after I found homes for the first 7).
And BTW your Mr. Notacatperson is in the office across the hall!!
Anonymous said…
Great story Francie!!

bee blessed
mary
Unknown said…
LOL God bless you Francie you cat hater you..lol I am a big cat hater as well..lol I love your kitties! Please,please hug them for me. I really enjoyed your post. You are always so darn funny.
Have a fun week sweetie.
xxoo
Janet
Anonymous said…
Love this "not a cat person" story Francie. LOL....We only have one, 20 years old and going strong! :)
Unknown said…
Oh' Francie. What a cute story, I enjoyed reading it so much. We too are not cat people but dog people who now have 2 and 1/2 cats. One I found as a new kitten in the shed 10 years ago. What a wild feral this one was. He finally became a house cat but still hides almost all the time. My MIL adopted one from the shelter about 5 years ago and he is huge!!! We should've know when the staff said they named him baby fat that he would get big but you could hold him in your 2 hands at the time. And we now have a kitten that won't let us touch him but loves to come peek in our windows (they're almost floor to ceiling, is why he can) and eat on our porch and whine to us everyday. Believe me when I say he want let touch him. He bit me when I tried to trap him and I spent 5 days in the hospital with cellulitus in July. But still he comes and still we feed him. But we're not cat people. ha-ha.

BTW - he is a Hemingway cat too. When I saw that I just had to touch him. Too bad he didn't feel the same way. I still want to but I won't be doing that again.

warm hugs...Tracy :)
Cindy Adkins said…
LOL! Oh, I loved this story! Thank you for making me smile this morning - it warmed my heart! I admit it - I'm an old lady with cats!! I used to have a Hemingway cat, too. Have you and your "Mr. So Not a Cat Person" ever read "Diary of a Cat?" You'd love it. I did a post on it on my blog - if you have time, my post titled The Cat's Meow...Confessions of an Ailurophile. Happy to meet you!
Cindy
We are cat people as well...after being dog & cat folks. My Honey is always wrapped around the paw of whoever is in charge. Now a kitten our vet got us when our matron died who had been dumped by the road and doesn't want to see anyone else but us. They are such wonderful companions! We really enjoyed your tale of the (4 not 2) kitties and totally understand Mr. & Mrs. Sonotacatperson!
R