Mysterious Little Creatures, Aren't They?

Any fan of the late cartoonist B. Kliban will instantly recognize the tag line and the cartoon – A cat lying on the floor doing something cat-like, as a guy on a couch says the line – Meanwhile, his female companion stares at two other cats behind his head, doing the Walk Like an Egyptian across the couch with big shit eating grins on their faces…

I've been a dog and/or cat guy my whole life, but I'll admit, I'm partial to the obnoxious little furballs known as Cattus Felinus. My family always had dogs and cats, for as far back as I can remember; being an observant youngster, it was clear to me that while the dogs scampered about, slathering and anxiously being good, the cats were watching, aloof, telling the dogs, "You dumbasses..."

The first family cat I remember was Blanche, who was a beautiful white kitty. Although I didn't realize it as a small lad, Blanche was also what they call a 'Loose Kitty', because she cranked out a whole bunch of kittens over the years. My dad had a thing for socks, meaning he had a large dresser drawer full of 'em, nice and soft and quiet there in his closet... So that's where Blanche had all her kittens, of course, being a sensible mom. Dad never seemed to mind, which I've always taken as the sign of a very good dad.

Then next one was Gorgeous, and she was - A long-furred Calico female who had, shall we say, a fiery personality. She used to get magnificent knots in her fur, which prompted mom to get her shaved once. Gorgeous was horrified, and spent several weeks slinking around, throwing looks at us which clearly said, "You assholes..."
Mom put a large, ranch-style birdfeeder next to the windows off the deck, and that cat would wedge her fat ass into the very back of the feeder and wait for a real stupid bird to come eat. I don't know that she ever got any, but it sort of outlined her general view on hunting; distasteful, but acceptable, within bounds of reason...
She liked to sleep in a large terra cotta bowl on top of the piano, which is where my brother would practice his clarinet. Certain notes pissed her off, and she'd come leaping out of the bowl, claws drawn, to retaliate - You'd hear, "doo doo doo doo doo AIIIEEGHHH!!!" and know she'd struck again. When we moved to Washington state, we thought she wouldn't make the transition, so a friend of moms who lived several miles away, took her in. The morning we were heading out, she showed up at the back door...

In Spokane, we got a Sealpoint Siamese named Mitzu.
In the summer, he'd all of a sudden get up and charge back and forth across the back yard and then pose on a rock.
In the winter, he'd yowl to go out, the feel the cold when the door was opened, do a whole body shiver, and head back for the rug in front of a radiator.
In his later years, he'd sit beside my dad's head in the morning when he thought it was time for him to get fed. He'd gently tap dad's head with a soft paw until dad woke up. Then he'd head for the top of the stairs and wait for dad to come pick him up and carry him downstairs for breakfast.

Then came a whole series of my cats. There have been a bunch, none of whom has died of old age; they went to cars, coyotes, or just plain disappeared. Some lasted for years, some just months...
Tigger and Mischa, I got when I moved back to Spokane. Tigger would come see me when I was taking a bath, and crawl onto my chest in the tub, curl up and go to sleep. Something got him out by the road before he was a year old. We know this because his sister took us out there and let us know in no uncertain terms that this was where they got him...
She's still with us, and at 8 years old is one of our longer lived cats. She refuses to drink water out of the cat water bowl - She will only drink from the faucet of our tub, (Which she will patiently instruct us to turn on just right), or the fish tank. She is mostly Siamese and mouthy - Becky, who used to be pretty much silent, is now about as mouthy as she, having learned well how to manipulate humans.

Ah, those others: Hobbes the Silver Tabby who was absolutely beautiful and dumb as a post; Spud, a downright vicious, nasty, ill-tempered little bitch that we kept for years; SloMo, who generally disliked everybody but James; Sushi, who would head butt you when she was happy: Felix ,who scammed Monica into buying him by doing tricks just for her in a feed store cage full of cute little kittens, (He wasn't one of them...); Becky who got locked inside an outdoor coke machine during a freeze; Katie the feral kitty... And many more.

I just can't understand folks who don't love 'em, and as big of a pain in the ass as they are, I'm sure we'll always have a few around...