Cats and More Cats

I have 12 cats. Now that all of them are spayed and neutered, our population is going down. My neighbor once told me that when he was growing up on the farm, they got up to over 70 cats. Waaaaaay too many!!

Here is a list of my fuzzy friends:

India Ink (aka Indy or Ink Pot): The ornery black tortoise shell cat. She knows that she is the queen of the indoors, and she is offended if petted without having given permission. She has taken up crawling under the blankets of my daughter’s bed to keep warm when she is not curled up by the green goddess (aka woodstove).

Snowflake (Snowie, The Big White Hunter): The “other” inside cat. Snowie will purr if you look at him and loves to play with little mice—if there is no one to play with, he’ll entertain himself by floating the brightly colored toys in his water dish prior to tipping the whole thing over onto the bathroom floor. This causes a few exclamations from the first person who sleepily enters the room in the wee hours of the morning. Any time the last litter of kittens comes to warm their toes by the stove, he will attempt to creep up and pounce on them. We finally belled the cat so that the kittens would be forewarned, otherwise a couple of them would have quit coming into the house for fear of this big snow-monster!

Snowflake and India Ink

Ears (aka The King, Ear-ly): This cat is believed to have supplemented his diet with Baby Beef Protein Pellets. He has loooong white fur complemented by a black tail and two black ears. He has a unique way of chirping at us with a husky voice when he demands attention. If you visit and do not plan to scratch his chin, make sure he doesn’t nip you for ignoring him!

Charcoal (aka Chuck Bunny—don’t ask): This is my 2^nd child’s dearly beloved. He wears a black and white tuxedo and has been well trained to ask to come into the sun porch prior to every meal so that he can loudly complain about your not sharing. This cat can be held upside down, laid on his back and his feet used as a steering wheel (vroom, vroom!), and used to remove all cats from the room by pretending you have food in your hand while you walk out of the door.

Nickabrick (aka Mama Kitty): This little lump of lard is the mother or grandmother of all the outside cats on our farm. She is a white calico and has the personality of a sledge hammer if any of the cats disrupt her nap. She has the respect of all fur balls on the farm, and to this day will grab anyone she wants, force them to the ground, and give them a face wash.

Mama Kitty giving Orion a face wash

Ruffy (aka Ruffy Tuff or The Witch): I love this little girl, but the children remember her early years where she would fly through the air to take possession of anything she thought was food—leaving them scratched and in tears. She reminds me of the cat I grew up with, having long orange fur, and therefore is his namesake.

Bright (aka Not So): This little orange and white, shorthaired butterball is the smallest cat on the farm. She curls up in the corner of the room and silently gets forgotten. Her goal is to become the next inside cat.

Spit Fire (aka Spit): Spit is a black tortoise shell cat. She deserves her name since she had the ability to spit, snarl, and sink her teeth in fear into anyone who was unfortunate enough to get too close. This little beauty has settled down a lot over the years, but she is still very skittish and can be seen dashing away from anything or anybody (or nothing). For whatever reason, several of the barn cats like to pick on her, and it is not unusual to hear her blood-curdling war hoop on someone who has pounced upon her. If I pick her up, she will hold on tightly with her claws and purr very loudly.

Orion (aka Fluffy Boy): This black and white tuxedo boy is trying his best to take after his big brother, Ears. They are apparently taken from the same cookie cutter, and this huge –pawed, gorgeous, longhaired beauty is trying to grow just as big. He has personality: We’ve decided that if we could put how he looks at us into words he would say, “Dumb human.”

William of Orange (aka Willie): Another scaredy-cat. He is a small, wiry, orange tiger cat who always looks worried. He’s probably as skinny as he is because he burns all his food by his constant fear of the world—that and his constant running off the deck to hide during mealtime.

Betelgeuse (aka Bug): This white with orange spotted fur ball got his name from one of the stars in the constellation Orion. Since the name Betelgeuse sounds like “Beatle Juice”, my son decided to nickname him Bug Syrup, which later got shortened to Bug. To tell you the truth, he is called Bug so much now that I had to think a few moments to remember his real name. This squirmy, never-sits-still, lover-boy is always in need of attention. If you ignore him, he will be certain to jump on your lap and wiggle around there until he begins to fall off; then he will use his sharp claws to grab onto you. If brought inside, the house would never be the same…

Oreo (Cookie Boy, Cookie Monster): We thought this name was fitting for a white and black kitty. This little guy is friendly in a quiet sort of way. His brothers outshine him, but if you want a cheerful little guy, this is the one you should scoop up and give a chin scratch.

Hold loosely all that comes into your heart. Blessings.