Life with Four Felines

When I was growing up, we had dogs. Our dogs all lived long, healthy lives. All of our dog were valued members of our family. Never in all those years was a cat allowed to live with us. There were kittens born outside under our porch. They were fed but we weren't allowed to play with them. We were led to believe that cats were bad. So how did it get to be that I love cats?!

When I moved to Israel in 1994, it was to a farming village. The only businesses there were farms and one small market. There were hundreds of cats. Many of the families fed them. They were, after all, good for the environment! I began to recognize individual cats and became familiar with their personalities. I started talking to them and a few responded. One of the first ones was Harry, a ginger cat named for the ginger haired prince. He was big and fluffy and would rub against my legs. He would let me pet him and often sat on my lap. My Israeli neighbors thought I was a bit touched in the head. They thought I was crazy playing with feral cats. I thought of myself as the cat whisperer, taming feral cats! One of my favorites was Prince Charles. He was a small tuxedo. Day after day, skittish Prince Charles would come and eat in my yard, then slink away. Each day I moved closer, until he stopped backing away. I sat in a chair just a couple of feet from the food. Eventually, he came to me. After that, Prince Charles visited me daily, climbing in my lap letting me pet him. These feral cats taught me to appreciate cats as the intelligent, beautiful animals they are.

After my Israel experience, I decided that when I "grew up", I wanted to be a crazy cat lady. Four years ago, my daughter convinced me to adopt a rescue kitten. That is how Phoebe became a member of our family. She was our first indoor cat. We loved and spoiled her. I would say "Hi" and she'd answer me something like "hi" I would say "I love you", she'd close her eyes slowly, then look at me lovingly. She was my girl. No two ways about it. She runs to the door when I come home, tells me when she's hungry or tired and loves to play. She is no kitten now. She is a very big cat. Last year I had a peeping Tom. She was up on her hind legs growling at the window! She is still a cat, sometimes aloof, hates being picked up but loves being held.She is the alpha female in our home.

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

~Albert Schweitzer

Three years ago we added Izzy (Isabella) to the mix. Another rescue cat. She was already two when we brought her home. We don't know much about her past only that it didn't seem to have been a happy one. Izzy is a bit "simple". She doesn't understand everything around her and was always afraid of her own shadow. As I write this, there is a storm outside. Izzy is cowering under my chair. Well, they are all here, actually. But up until recently, she would have been the one running from room to room, crying and looking for a place to hide. Now, she understands she is safe with me.

"Time spent with cats is never wasted."~Sigmund Freud

This past April, my friend worked to trap a family (a very large family) of cats in her yard and neighborhood. She brought four kittens and their mother home. Two of them now reside in our home. Enter Ella and Finnick (our first male!) Gone is the quiet, the boring, the mundane! Here is the messy, the busy, the chaos! The "babies" are now five months old. They are full of vim and vinegar! Phoebe is beginning to like them. Izzy has begun to tolerate them. I am definitely going crazy (does that count?) but the love and affection is well worth the loss of a calm and peaceful household.

"I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul."
~Jean Cocteau

For some great hubs and more informative reading by other cat lover's, please visit these hubs:

catgypsy

crazybeanerride

crazyprincess

Right after the two little ones arrived (and began to demolish our home) I thought to myself, "WHAT HAVE I DONE??!!??" But what have I really done? I have added two more sources of joy and love to our little family. I have taken two more feral cats off the streets, filled their bellies and their hearts. Believe me, when I am scooping litter and taking mischevious kitties away from my jewlery...and shoes...and make-up....the list goes on, I still question. A little. But when one little imp after another comes by for some loving or gives me a little grin, I melt! And I know that there are way worse things to be than a crazy cat lady!

As you can see from the picture, Finnick loves the bathroom. If we can't find him, it's a sure bet, he's sleeping in the tub! Ella, being the girlie girl that she has, is constantly in trouble in the bathroom. This week, she manged to dye a bit of her fur brown by jumping on to the bathroom counter, right into the bottle of hair dye! She's thinking of going blond next! Speaking of Ella, she chewed through three phone chargers in a week. We are thinking of changing her name to Lucifera. Other changes: Feeding times have become less frantic but the litter boxes seem to be perpetually full. The big cats and the little cats still don't get along but they all agree that when it comes to bedtime, everyone hops into the same bed. And that bed, is usually mine!

This hub was written over three years ago. While we still have four cats in our home, we have lost one and added another. Please check out more of our story:

• How to Cope With a Missing Cat
• How to Cope with the Loss of a Pet
• Jealous Behavior in Cats