Not My Cat™️ – Star

December 16, 2023December 18, 2023 Amy9 Comments

Join me for Part One of a new series entitled, “Not My Cat™️.”

I first noticed Star in 2016, after new neighbors moved in. Star moved in with her two dog brothers and her human family. I walked past “her” house on many occasions. Shortly after Star and her family moved in, I noticed her sitting on the front stoop. Because I am unable to walk past a cat without calling out to it and trying to get it to come to me, I slowed down my pace in front of Star’s house. Star glanced over. She was intrigued, perhaps sensing I speak Cat, and made her way over to me. She sniffed then rubbed my hand. This was the beginning of our friendship. Much to my surprise, it was also the beginning of Star walking with me on my walks. I had never known a cat to walk with a person before, nor have I met another.

And so it went. I would round the corner and Star would strut at her own pace down the driveway to meet me, and we would commence our walk. The whole time, I whispered to her that she should go back home. It wasn’t safe. There were dogs and cars. She did often stop eventually and returned home on her own.

As spring turned to summer, I saw Star’s human father, and told him that I loved his cat. He told me that she runs the house. She was a feral stray at one point and she does what she wants. Her two dog brothers were much larger than she, but I witnessed Star corral the two dogs after they had escaped the fenced backyard. She went out to the driveway where they were, hissed and swatted at each of them until she could get them back to the fence. Star was very tiny, but very, very mighty. She reminded me of my own cat, Kitty. Kitty has been long since gone but Star had her personality. And star was aptly named.

One sweltering summer day, I looked out my window and saw members of Star’s human family walking their two dogs. Then I saw Star trailing behind, her humans oblivious to her struggle to keep up. It was so very hot and I knew she was an elderly cat. I scrambled out of my house to get Star. I scooped her up, but she didn’t want to be scooped up. So, I tried to bring her some water. But she didn’t want any water. She kept walking, so I walked her home. We went very slowly as you can imagine an elderly cat in humid, hot weather would move. I felt awful that I could not pick her up, but she was not willing to be held. We reached her home and I knocked on the closed door. I had trouble holding back my anger and concern. I said, rather rudely, “I found your cat. She’s old and she’s hot and probably needs to come in and drink water immediately.” I was met with a couple of blank stairs from a couple of teenagers. I hope that they let Star in that day, even if she didn’t want to come in, and that she had all the water she could drink.

I didn’t see Star after that day. I walked daily, and as each day passed and I still didn’t see her, I knew that Star was among the stars. A star. I have a picture of Star hanging in my kitchen along with many photos of cats that I’ve met or have been owned by in my life. She fits right in. And yet, she doesn’t. She shines bright. ✨

She Probably Has Your Cat

December 14, 2023December 16, 2023 Amy10 Comments

Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

The odds are that I do. The Cat Distribution System seems stuck to me like cat hair. I’ve tried turning it off and on a couple of times, but still the cats arrive. Until they fix the system, if you have misplaced your cat, I probably have it.

The Cat Distribution System located me early

cats · daily prompt · Humor

I See What You Did There

December 9, 2023December 10, 2023 Amy13 Comments

What’s your favorite cartoon?

Look at daily prompt with the perfect Saturday/Caturday morning question.

My favorite cartoon is not a moving cartoon but a cartoon figure.

It all started when my father brought me home a pencil case with her image on it. He had been traveling again, and found this on his travels. I must’ve been four years old, at a time when the brain is impressionable. We also had cats, so it seems like it was a foregone conclusion that this character would become my favorite, and it extends to present day.

Once, I had a cat named Kitty. During the time of her years in my home, there was a TV commercial that repeatedly stated, “Hello Kitty!” It was a rather annoying commercial, actually. But the cat kept hearing her name and turned her head toward the humans in the home as if to say, “What?! I’m right here! Stop this thing saying hello to me.” She was so annoyed. And it was amusing.

If you haven’t guessed by now, my favorite cartoon is Hello Kitty. For many years, I didn’t know Hello Kitty has a twin sister, nor a pet cat (?!?!). She also has a boyfriend named Dear Daniel, but he’s kind of sketchy. He has that tomcat vibe. You know the type: they only come around when they want to see you. They don’t call, they don’t text, they’re just out here on the streets looking cute talking to all the girls. He has that stray cat strut. Mmm, hmm.

I am an adult. And I am not ashamed to say Hello Kitty can be found throughout my home. She’s in my car, hanging from my rearview mirror. She’s on my floor mats. I have several items of clothing with her face on them. I contemplated a tattoo, but never followed through with it. At least not yet.

Chococat, another Sanrio cat, gets a shout out today because he is a friend of Hello Kitty, it’s Caturday, and he’s cute.

Happy Cartoon Caturday!

cats · daily prompt · Humor · Writing

Did My Cat Write This?

December 1, 2023December 1, 2023 Amy7 Comments

What are your feelings about eating meat?

I think she did. I’ve told her to stay off the laptop numerous times. Usually she types something like, “bfnthrhfbdvrkihgdbd,” but I see this time she’s given it some thought

Well, it looks like she’s conducting a poll, and will be utilizing this information to convince me to buy the larger size of beef treats.

(She doesn’t know I bought the large bag of chicken-flavored treats, so I hope you understand that your answer to the question will be recorded and used at a later date.)

cats · daily prompt · Humor

Cat Hair and a Robe

November 30, 2023December 1, 2023 Amy7 Comments

What are your two favorite things to wear?

Cat owners (“staff”) will understand what I mean about the cat hair thing. I not only wear it, I eat it. It also regularly gets into my eyes, where it lives for days at a time, hugging my eyeball until it decides to release its grasp. Eyedrops don’t help loosen the grip, but they do add more tears to the already tearful eye.

Working from home affords the luxury of wearing a robe most of the day – OK, all of the day. Robe is the new sweater. Cat owners (“staff”) will also understand that you can’t wear a robe without wearing cat hair on your robe.

Cat hair is the new black.

cats · daily prompt · Humor · Trees

Daily Prompt Had A Bad Day

November 27, 2023November 28, 2023 AmyLeave a comment

Who are your current most favorite people?

It seems as if our friend Daily Prompt has had some type of family drama occur this past weekend. Perhaps it was the Thanksgiving holiday, if Daily Prompt celebrates, that led to this question of loyalty among people. Did Daily Prompt experience a falling out? I suppose we will never know, but I hope Daily Prompt returns to us tomorrow with spirits renewed.

Here’s an old photo of my cat, Bubba. Because cats make everything better. Feel better soon, Daily Prompt.

cats · daily prompt

Felis Silvestris Catus

November 26, 2023November 27, 2023 Amy2 Comments

What are your favorite animals?

Bowser (Bowsie) – the Second Acquisition

Mama Kitty – Third Acquisition with *bonus* Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Acquisitions included inside

Bubba – the Fourth Acquisition – my best friend and his cat family’s source of exasperation

“Will” – the Bonus Acquisitions’ father (we think)

Follow for more Acquisition Tales/Tails, click here to read about the Acqusition of Cats, and stay tuned for additional Not My Cat ™️ featured content.

cats · daily prompt

Unconditional Love

November 13, 2023 AmyLeave a comment

What is good about having a pet?

For more information, kindly read yesterday’s daily prompt response entitled, “The Acquisition of Cats.” Also check out other posts I’ve made on cats via the menu.

cats · daily prompt · Humor · Writing

The Acquisition of Cats

November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 Amy5 Comments

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

There is not one, and they are not bought. How one acquires cats is this: one shows up, and hours to months to years later, another one shows up. This repeats until you have between two and four or more cats at any given time.

Cats are not items. But cats require the purchase of many items such as food they will not eat and treats they selectively eat (if you get the wrong ones, they won’t eat them either). Cat toys are bought in the hundreds, only to be left alone in favor of scraps of paper that fall off of various items: shoelaces, plastic bottle caps, and various other waste materials. Expensive cat beds are left untouched in favor of tissue paper from discarded gift boxes, warm towels inadvertently left on a surface, and your own pants left carelessly on the chair.

The litter. The litter is so expensive that it often means going without at least two items of food for yourself per week to allow its purchase. And you must purchase it – it is not only irresponsible to let your cats outside, it is dangerous for the cats. There are a number of diseases they can pick up from other cats and other animals that live outside. Cats can become badly injured in cat fights and by human cars. But let’s get back to the litter: it’s not just the cost of the litter, it’s also the human labor that goes into maintaining the litter box. My current cat will not use clumping litter, so the human staff (me) must scoop the poop every day. It is one of my more glamorous roles in the household.

Other animals require similar amounts of expense, care and investment of time, but what other animal besides the cat expects these tasks to be performed without question? And yet, it is all worth it in the end, when the cat slow blinks at you and rubs their cheeks and tails against you in a sign of ownership and affection. They are telling you that they appreciate what you do for them, that they accept you no matter what you look like, or who you are, or what you’ve done in the past. (They are also telling you that you are not permitted to stop doing any of these things. Ever.)

The acquisition of cats is materially expensive, yes, but the unconditional love that is received from the feline in exchange is more than enough currency to pay for the acquisition of a cat.

cats · daily prompt · Humor

Cats in Ancient Egypt

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023 Amy1 Comment

What historical event fascinates you the most?

Who domesticated who? Who was the Egyptian who decided cats were to be revered? Why did everyone else agree?

Not that this person was wrong, because I am a proud cat mother, but how did this happen? There are cat memes (a.k.a. hieroglyphics) all over the Egyptian tombs. And while we’re at it, how were the pyramids made? What’s the deal with the Sphinx?

In summary, Ancient Egypt fascinates me. it’s not an event so much as it’s a time period.

PS – my cat doesn’t want me asking why or how. She says to just accept it. I tell her that I have. There is no one else in my home who lives rent free, has no job, and for whom I scoop a litter box. I think the Ancient Egyptians would understand what I’m talking about.