LenaBeena

My husbands favorite cat was named Pumpkin because of his color. He would wait at the end of the lane for my husbands car and climb in when my husband opened the gate. Then he would stand on his lap and put his paws on the wheel and help "drive" the rest of the way home.

sap

My father had a black long haired cat called Sam. They had regular conversations regarding food, the weather and various topics. When Dad passed he came to live with me, although we didn't have conversations he insisted on a taste of what ever I was going to eat, before I ate it. Think he was the Queen's taster?

There are many different stories, but it would take 999 pages to tell them all. What a character.

luvstoquilt

My avatar is the famous, Mr. Peach. Peach was alone in the park when I rescued him. He was chasing a little girl on a bicycle. I stopped my car and asked her if the cat was hers...she said, "No! and it is going to get killed." I asked her why she didn't take it home and she said she had a cat already. I took the kitten (It was exhausted by that time) and the vet told me it was about 5 weeks old. I thought it was a girl but Miss Peach turned out to be Mr. Peach. He was mothered by my two old Silkie Terriers so he thinks he is a dog. He answers the door when the bell rings and he can't climb a tree! He will be 6 years old this summer and he is so much loved!

JLe

Dudley came to stay for a few weeks while my DD found and settled into new digs. (He ended up staying for ten years) The former owners had him declawed, but those little front paws worked pretty well. After lunch he would curl up on my DH's lap to watch the news, When he got too warm he would curl his paw around my Hubby's hip to move him off the .chair. DH would move to another chair, and two minutes later Dudley would be over on his lap again. Typical cat, but we loved him

donna13350

My favorite memory was of the old Tomcat we had when I was a kid. Every year the female from the farm next door would bring her kittens over to our garage, and one by one, leave them. She never returned! Our Tomcat would bring them half dead critters to practice hunting on, and he would sleep and play with them and take care of them. We supplemented with food, but he did the rest. I remember at least 4 years she did that! My Dad called her "strumpet"...I never knew what that word meant until I was much, much older! (loose woman, or whore) LOL

cr12cats

the one that comes to mind is what my cat is doing right now. She likes to open cabinets and after she gets done each night opeing the same 3 she settles down and watches Ventavision Tv. that is what we call her doing she has 2 vents low on the wall she just sits and watches like the most interesting thing on it. She may be getting a little senile , last week she turned 18. the last cat we had lived till she was 20 and she watch Wall-a-vision each night. The house is 99 years old so we tease that maybe they see things we don't. But they sure do get glued to it and don't notice anything else when they watch.

nancia

we have a 20 yr old and a 4 yr old. my 1st cat lived to 22 so i'm not worried about this one going for awhile. but i want to tell you a story from my childhood. i was maybe 3 and mom was trying to get me to take a nap. she promised that when i woke up she would have a surprise for me. so, i napped. later when i had woken up from my nap, mom took me to my sisters' closet and there was our mother cat and brand new kittens. we had 52 kittens the year before, our 2 boy cats were really girls. anyway, i was un-impressed. kitten litters were ordinary, every day, ho hum. i walked through the den on my way to the kitchen, when...what? there was daddy sound asleep on the couch. and , o my gosh! surprise! there on his lap was a just born kitten. DADDY HAD A KITTEN! now that was a good surprise!!!! hotrod, a longhaired tuxedo cat lived to 22. i remember how it shook me when he died. he was the last vestige of my childhood. he had been my most loyal friend, my source of comfort and warmth, my heart and soul. there have been many cats and dogs and just about every other animal, too. and they were all loved and enjoyed, but there is something so special about the one that brought you up. the one who taught you all of the important facts of cat life and in doing so, taught you about life with people, too.

BarbaraSue

My DH and I moved to a small farm with about 3 outbuildings. We were looking into one of them to help DD decorate for the Fall at her job when kittens were found. There were 4 that were found immediately. only 2 survived the next night. They were less than 10 days old-- eyes were not open yet. One was a tuxedo male with four white feet and 3 white hairs on the tip of his tail. The other was a blackish tuourtoise shell female. Boots and Mokey (short for Monkey as she looked like a spider monkey to look at her face). Boots had no idea he was a cat. He answered the door bell as visitors came. Sat next to the arm of the couch, and would lay down with his front paws on the arm and his butt on the seat. He was very personable, very laid back. Played well with kids. His sister, Mokey was the opposite. Very hissy, grumbled under breathe as she darted out of rooms when the door bell rang. Cleaned the litter box after Boots everytime he went!! Ha! She ruled. She ruled even the dog! Later when she was the only cat and about 12, we got another rescue dog to fill the void of a lost one. He was a Red Bone Coon Hound, weighed about 100 lbs. "Red". Well Red would look out of the loft window and then turn to come down the stairs. Then he would freeze and there with her back to him was Mokey at the bottom of the stairs. Red would whine, cry; but he would not bark as Mokey would hiss-growl at him with her evil eye stare if he did. She had him treed on the stairs. We couldn't help but laugh. This happened about eveyday for 4 years. They both got cancer and died 4 months apart, first Red then Mokey. Pets add so much to our lives.

feline fanatic

I have enjoyed reading everyone's cat stories. I have enough to fill a book but I will tell of my first cat love, the cat that brought me up. He was a member of the household before I came along. A big ginger tom named Tiger. Tiger was a love and a half and so indulgent of me. When I was old enough to attend school, back in those days it was safe for a 5 year old to walk to school by herself. I would walk home from school and as soon as I hit the neighbor's house I would yell "TIGER!" and immediately drop to my hands and knees. Tiger would come bounding out from wherever he was and run to me to bump heads and rub and love me all over. He did this every single day. I still remember an old photo of me with that cat at about 4 or 5 years of age. I was holding him, my arm wrapped around his midsection supporting him and his legs just dangling there. At that time the cat probably weighed close to 18 pounds and I was maybe 40 or 50. I loved that cat, and every cat I have had since then too.

I sure would like to know the secret of those who had 20 something cats. I've never had one live beyond 15 years.

nancia

the secret to a longlived cat, i think, is mostly in the cat. my parents' last cat died this winter. dad passed 7 yrs ago and mom, 2 yrs ago. dandy lived with my sister until the end. he was an indoor cat. toby was a stray who lived in and out. mel was a neighborhood "muttcat" lived in and out. hot rod was an indoor/outdoor. simon is indoor/outdoor. i really don't think there is a secret. all of our cats have been well-loved, well fed and vetted as needed. all but simon were ridiculously friendly and easy going. simon is more reserved and has really only one great love, me, but has in most recent years expanded his friendship base to include my husband and sister. the only traits they have in common are they are all male, well taken care of, but not extraordinarily so, and have been moved around, friendly (forget simon. he's the exception that proves the rule). 3 were all black, 1 tuxedo and 1 orange. as i think of it, i have not heard of any female cats that live as long, but there are more cats out there than i have heard of, so gender may mean nothing as far as longevity goes. and there are lots more factors that i haven't thought of, i'm sure. judging from the reactions of vets when we show up with our ancient cats, it is more the exception than the rule. they are surprised and also surprised to find them in such good health. mel had a large tumor in his head and was put down, otherwise, there is no telling how much further he may have gone. they have certainly beaten the odds for outdoor cats. no accidents or serious injuries that usually claim outdoor cats. i think for the most part we have just been very lucky to have lucky cats. i want to add that every single one was neutered, and all but hot rod , were rescues. i believe sooo strongly in spaying and neutering and supporting rescues! these are a handful of the cats we've been owned by in my 60 yrs. obviously most did not make this list. but we have had a very good run with cats!