Thursday, September 3, 2009

Cat of Nine Tales First Blog Entry

     This is my first blog entry. Whew! I got that sentence out of the way. I’m here because I love cats. I’ve always loved cats, but only within the last three years have I totally abandoned myself to the thought of being a…a…dare I say it?…a cat lady. Yes – there it is. I am a cat lady. Is there a politically correct way of saying that? A cat person perhaps? You certainly don’t say a cat man, that has heroic connotations, but, come to think of it, I know of some men who rescue cats, or, actually take in rescues, specifically mothers with young kittens…but I’m getting off track here. I’m a cat lady, and I’m also a writer and now I’m compelled to write about my cats. I’ve been reading the current cat blogs and some of them are quite clever and very active. Most I read were in the perspective of the cat, but when I tried that myself, it didn’t work out so well (maybe I’ll post it someday). I found that a lot of my fascination with cats is how they interact with us and how they interact with each other. I’m enthralled by the subtle layers of communication between all of us. I guess it should be labeled as “behavior”, but that sounds too scientific and implies generalizations of cat actions into broad categories. I love to watch their individual personalities at work, their changing moods, energies and dynamics between each other. See what I mean…cat lady.
     My domestic partner, I shall refer to as DP, and I have nine cats, thus the name of my blog. She had four cats, Barnum, BJ, Nick and Wizard (plus three dogs), when I moved in a few years ago with my two boys, Bustopher and Moseley. Then we adopted more kitties when she worked at the local animal shelter and so we have a “yours, mine and ours” colony of felines. I’ll introduce them one by one because they each deserve their own blog entry. They all have interesting lives, at least to me, and so I do tend to go on and on about them. We have a bazillion pictures of them, which I’ll have to spend time wading through to find just the right ones to share. By the way, I refer to our group of cats as a “colony,” because I’m just not used to saying or hearing the word “clowder” and it makes me laugh. Until I grow up and change my mind, I’ll be using the word colony. Do you use the word clowder? I’m sorry…it’s all clams to me.
     All of our cats are indoor only cats, but we do have an outdoor cat enclosure that DP built. It is accessed by a narrow window in our bathroom above our toilet, which provides them with a “porcelain staircase” leading them to the outside. When we know we’ll be home for long periods of time, we slide the window open, yell “kitties out!” and the cavalry comes running, from all corners of the house, through the bathroom door, up the porcelain staircase and out the window (usually creating a bottleneck after being indoors for hours on a long rainy day). With nine cats, we have given them their own bathroom (but it’s not the one with the window out to the cat enclosure). In the “cat bathroom,” the tub makes a great place for three of their litter boxes, plus four more on the floor around the outside. The other end of the bathroom is lined with free feeders and a water bowl. We have all shapes and sizes of water bowls placed around the whole house, including a fountain waterer, and each cat has their preference. Of course, even with all that, some drink from our tub or kitchen sink.
     Our cats are our companions and our entertainers. Several times a month we pull out a special toy for group games. Sometimes it’s the red laser light and sometimes it’s the flying feather wand. Everyone gathers round in the living room when one of those toys comes out, even though some prefer being a spectator to being a player. They do gather together on their own at least once a day to play. Everyone’s awake at the same time and there is a spark in the air. It only takes one cat to dart at another, dart away again then a chase ensues, rousing the whole gang for play fights and acrobatics around the furniture. Within seconds the living room is alive with tumbles, leaps and pounces. Most times they pair up with their best buddies, but occasionally they’ll switch around.
     Part of my compulsion to write about cats is to enlighten those who may not be cat persons or those who might be cat curious. These feline entities are such wonderful personalities with vitality and spiritual energy, and I, for one, feel honored that they are willing to share themselves with humans even though they do not need us. To know that at birth, they are endowed with all the wild and instinctual skills necessary to survive without humans, as long as they have a decent mother, and yet they willingly stay in the company of us, strangely malformed human animals. I think that we fascinate them too, my cats watch me as much as I watch them…so independent yet so engaging and always interesting. It feels like we have a little wildlife right in our living room. In truth, caring for and living with all our pets, influences me to think about human beings and our social behaviors, so I feel I learn daily just from being with them. 
   Hey! Thanks for reading this all the way through! I welcome you here and I welcome your thoughts. Co9T

25 comments:

  1. Nice to meet you and all of your brood. Enjoy blogging.

    Poppy and Julie Q

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  2. Hi there! I like what you said about how interesting cats are with their own personalities. There's just something about them. Can't wait to read about each of your cats.
    -Zoe, Indy, Georgia & Everett's mom.

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  3. Welcome to blogging Cat of Nine Tails!! We are pleased to meet you and read all about you!! We know you will enjoy all the cool cats you'll meet at the Cat Blogosphere!! We have lots of fun!
    Your TX furiends,

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  4. Welcome to the Cat Blogosphere. I love cats, too, but I can't live with any, because my elderly mother is extremely allergic to them. I look forward to learning about your experiences with your cats.

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  5. Welcome to the Cat Blogosphere! Sounds like you have a happy cat home and lots of fun!

    Milo (Tuxedo) and Alfie (Grey)

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  6. hiya! Welcome to the blogosphere! 9 cats? I think you're a *bit* of a crazy cat lady maybe??? :-)

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  7. Wow, now that is a bunch of love going on!!! Read about you on the Cat Blogosphere and wanted to say hello. My name is Brian and I have 3 sisters, Sascha, Gracie & Zoe. All of us were rescued and we're lovin' it. Come by my blog and visit sometime.

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  8. Welcome to the Cat Blogosphere, Co9T! We are glad you're here! We're looking forward to meeting each of you individually!

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  9. Good Morning, Lisa and WELCOME! What an active home you have! I like the photos of of all your kitty and puppy family! And hey, ya never know--one of your kitties may look over your shoulder and steal the keyboard away from you!! There's alot of cool cats, puppies, (and Humans too!)--WELCOME again!

    Noir in Texas

    PS. You'll be surprised how many cat ladies who will want to join you on that porch in Maine--with cats on lap and chocolate covered strawberries in mouth! :) ENJOY!

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  10. Hi new furiends! It's s great to meet you all! There are usually 6 of us kitties, but we currently have 3 foster kittens we are trying to find homes for.
    Stop by and see us sometime, we love company!!
    Purrs,
    The Creek Cats

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  11. Oh, we're the first to comment! Well, just a little welcome to the CB from us. You will really like it here. We are looking forward to your stories!
    Purrs, Siena & Chilli

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  12. Hi efurryone!! it's nice to meet you!!! we can't wait to hear more about you all!

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  13. Welcome to the Cat Blogosphere! We look forward to learning more about you and your kitties. 9 - wow, that's a lot! Our Mommy thought she had her hands full with us 5! Teehee...

    Purrs and hugs,
    The Kitty Krew

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  14. Welcome to the CB! We are a family of 5 very different purrsonalites! Abby is the head kitty, even though she is the smallest and also the tailess one, she's also the oldest. Then we have the trio that arrived on our doorstep after being abandoned and we adopted...or should I say they adopted us!?! And finally there is Gracie who came to us through an outdoor kitty that also adopted us and went missing, never to be found. We met Gracie because of our search for Button and we saved her from Animal Care and Control. Please drop in and visit us!

    Purrs
    Abby,Boo,Ping,Jinx,Gracie & Mom Debra

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  15. Welcome... from Maggy and Zoey (and the human, Ann) to the world of cat blogging. No doubt with 9-tails-to-tell this will be an interesting place to visit.

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  16. Welcome to cat blog world. Mom's a cat lady too - we got lots more than you! Come by and meet us. We will be back to visit!

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  17. Welcome to the world of blogging! We hope to see you lots. BTW, there are two doggies that live with us and they are sayin' that your doggie should have equal time on this blog, too!

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  18. Welcome to the Cat Blogosphere. We're looking forward to following your adventures!

    Sniffie and the Florida Furkids

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  19. Hello, it's nice to meet you. We read about you on the CB. We are two ginger and white brothers from the UK. Come and visit sometime.
    Is the ginger kitty in the 7th and 8th photos a Manx, or is it photo angle? We saw some lovely floofy tails waiting on the porcelain staircase.

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  20. Hi, nice to meet all of you!! Mom and I have written a book about me, but it's not out yet.

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  21. hi! welcome to cat blogging. you'll meet lotsa great kitties, woofies, bunnies, human beans etc. you'll love it.

    i hope you'll come visit me sometime.

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  22. Hi! Welcome to da Cat Blogosphere and afore we furget our mom don't say clowder or colony (unless she is talking about da ferals) she just calls us da cat clan.

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  23. Nice to meet you. That's a big family. There are 9 of us too but we're not all cats.

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  24. Hi! We are a family of 7 kitties and we say welcome! We're looking forward to reading about each of you!
    MamaCat & the FurryPurries
    Ozzy, Alice, Bootsie, Freckles, Lola, Dandelo & Honey

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  25. Hi Lisa,
    I loved your idea of linking back to your first post. I may have Katie try that too. It was really great reading your first blogging thoughts and learning more about what brought you here, how you are fascinated by your cats and their behavior, etc. Thanks for sharing that!

    I had to laugh. You wrote that you tried to write in the voice of your cat and it just didn't work. Well I tried the opposite. I tried to write as me and I just couldn't do it. As cats go, Katie's personality is about as sarcastic as they come. (I didn't know cats even knew what that was!) So in order to paint an accurate picture of Katie, the snarky remarks and complaints just had to come from her. : )

    Thanks for being one of our loyal followers.

    Glogirly & Katie

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