Pepper-Ann

Pepper-Ann is Marissa's cuddly cat that I met along with Lucy tonight in Harlem at book club.  Pepper-Ann, who shares a name with the late-90s cartoon character (I didn't get it until Marissa started singing the theme song, then it all came back!), loves to be held and enjoys attacking clothing.

Lucy

I met Lucinda (a.k.a. Lucy) at Marissa's apartment in Harlem tonight when our book club met.  Lucy is suuuuuper cute and round, but she is also very skittish, cautious, and shy.  She used to have a sibling, but it went out a window.  Lucy became lonely after that, so Marissa and her roommate adopted a friend for her, Pepper-Ann.

Happy National Cat Day!

I will celebrate by sharing this great video my friend Eva showed me a couple of weeks ago.  These cats clearly have the upper hand...

Throwback Cat: Tibby

Tibby is another cat from my childhood.  My family adopted Tibby when I was in fourth grade.  We got him because there was a family across the street that kind of hoarded cats; they never got them fixed or vaccinated, so there were always at least a dozen feral cats roaming around.  My parents were terrified of my brother and me getting bitten by a possibly-rabid cat, so they called the shelter to see what was available.  When they described a "big, nasty tomcat" my mom said that was the one we wanted.

Tibby actually was living right down the street from us when we adopted him; a family had been feeding this extra cat on their property, but didn't want to add him to their pet menagerie.  The first time we let Tibby outside he ran away back down to that house, but after we retrieved him he never ran away again.

Tibby was, indeed, big and nasty.  He hated everyone... except me.  Tibby and I really bonded, and I was the only one who was (sometimes) allowed to touch his chest without being bitten (although he never let me rub his belly).  Tibby slept on my bed, taking up most of the space, and would occasionally show my family his white spot on his underside, which was a big deal when it first happened.

The vet estimated that Tibby was eight years old when we first got him.  That means that by the time he died when I was 21 and spending a semester in Spain (very, very bad timing on his part), he was 20 years old.  I think Tibby can be credited with turning me into a genuine crazy cat lady.

I don't have much of a way of telling when these pictures are from, because most of them I labeled "Tibby!" or "Tibby!!!!" on the back of the photo.  This one my mom labeled, however, dating it 1995.  That means I don't have to feel so bad about the Strawberry Shortcake sheets, heart comforter, and creepy doll on my bed.

Not only did I have a big, creepy doll, I also had a pillow person, a pig, and a frog to sleep with.  Tibby looks right at home.

I put flowers on Tibby's rear end.  I was a strange child.

Finally, a slightly more recent picture.  This is Tibby celebrating my high school graduation.  I hope by then I had upgraded my sleeping situation to something less intense.

Throwback Cat: Lucky

I recently acquired a pretty awesome scanner/printer/copier (for free, I might add) and realized that this enables me to post pictures of my old cats that have since passed on to the eternal land of kibble and balled-up aluminum foil.

I've had cats most of my life.  My first cat was Lucky, sitting here with his cartoon counterpart, Garfield.  This picture was probably taken pre-1984.

Lucky was born before I was.  My parents named him Lucky because they found him in a box on the side of the road along with his brothers and sisters when he was a kitten, so he was lucky, I suppose, to find a home.  Lucky died when I was young, although I don't remember exactly when.  Probably sometime around when I was in third grade.  He was old, went outside for the night, and never came home.  I loved Lucky, but my cat-ladiness had not matured to its most advanced state at the time, so he was really more my parents' cat.

Cat Shadow

October has been a very slow month for City Kitties, so when I saw this cat this morning I knew I had to post him, even though he's been posted before and I see him all the time.  I did like how the picture came out with the long morning shadow, though.

Lazybone

I noticed this little lazybone cat when I was walking down 19th Ave. this afternoon.  He was so lazy that he wouldn't even open his eyes when I was trying to get his attention.  Suuuuuper keeeeeeeet!

City Kitties Travels: Dusty

I spotted this adorable cat at Commonwealth Books in Boston this weekend. Dusty definitely looks like a duster!

Update: Dusty is probably Bookstore Cat, submitted by Beth via Heidi earlier this year. It's quite the coincidence that Dusty made two appearances an City Kitties without my knowledge!