Crazy Crazy

I often joke (mostly out of extreme fear) about becoming the 'crazy cat lady'. You know, the obscure one who lives alone with only her cats to keep her company. As much as I love cats, and especially MY own cats..this fear is something that drives me insane! I'm one of those people that most often, likes to be surrounded by people. As much as I know that this is my own conscious decision, and I can always choose to have lots of friends and family around me..I dunno..there is something about that old 'crazy cat lady' idea that nags at the back of my mind.

That said, I really do love my cats. They're the cutest of cute little things..and they really do have their own little personalities and funny little quirks. We've always had cats in the house as I was growing up..but right now we have FOUR in our house..and that's the most we've ever had and they're all quite wonderful lovely cats...I often find myself referring to them almost as though they're not pets, but children..and that's partly where my fear of turning into a crazy cat lady comes into view..haha!

Spot is the baby of the cats, and a dainty little princess..who always wants to get her way. She doesn't really like to go outside that much, unless the weather is absolutely PERFECT. She is skittish and doesn't take to new people well..she likes certain people and always wants attention from them..but anything new or noisy scares her. She has this funny little meow and will use it to get your attention if she needs you for something or wants something. She's extremely tiny in stature, and is the only of the cats whose weight doesn't fluctuate a lot..she stays at her regular 5ish pounds. My Dad calls her the 'neurotic' one...but in the end, everyone loves her. Sometimes the other cats pick on her or tease her, but then ten minutes later they'll be outside teaching her how to hunt chipmunks, or making sure that she has her turn at the food bowl, or just cuddled up on someones bed with her..they all look out for her and it's rather cute :)

If Spot is the baby of the cat family, then Callie is DEFINITELY the Mom. She's pretty easy going, nothing really bothers her..and she doesn't generally make a fuss about anything. If you move her from where she's sleeping..that's fine..if she gets a treat, that's fine..if not..eh..she'll be fine. She likes to keep the peace between the other cats, and has been found in the middle of a typical 'cat fight', on no ones side..simply trying to get the others to stop fighting about whatever they happen to be fighting about. She'll bathe Spot in the afternoon soon, and keep the 'guys' company when they're outside hunting..and just generally goes with the flow.

The king of our current cats is Tucker. He's the typical alpha male. Callie and Tucker are twins and look almost identical, especially in the summer when they weigh the same. The only difference really is that Tuck has a little more white under his chin and on his belly, and he has broken his tail, so it actually makes them quite easy to tell apart now..but when they were little..it was virtually impossible...but that's a cute story for another time! Anywho, Tuck likes to be the hunter and the protector and he's the boss of the rest of the cats. He really does take care of everyone..at night he'll make sure that all of the rest of the cats are inside before he settles down..one time Spot was outside and there was a thunderstorm and he came back to the house, meowed at the door until someone came to let him and then wouldn't come in, yet wouldn't stop meowing until we followed him outside to where Spot was hiding from the storm so that we could get her and bring her home. Tucker enjoys eating cheese, but only certain types of cheese..and it's as though he has 'cheese radar' as he can be ANYWHERE in the house and you take a certain type of cheese out of the fridge and he comes RUNNING. Take out a different kind and eh, he could care less..he'll just go on with his normal everyday routine. He generally enjoys little treats, but cheese and crackers with my dad is his favourite..and the reason why he gets so fat in the winter! Once spring comes though, he's rarely inside during the day and really only eats what he catches, which means he gets pretty thin, pretty fast..he has more fun hunting and climbing trees and running around than coming inside to eat dry old boring cat food.

Our latest addition to our cat clan is Mr. Grey. Unlike the rest of our tabbys, he's..well..Grey. He came to us this scrawny little imp, and has slowly but surely found his place here (and managed to get the cat equivilent of a beer belly). He is tough..he's not scared of anything, not at all skitterish and will strut around like he owns the place..which I honestly sometimes thinks that he does! I like to describe him as that crazy old uncle that everyone has in their family. The one that is always around and always THERE..but no one really knows WHY he's there or WHAT he's doing..or even how he fits into the picture..yet they love him regardless. He's the grumpy old man sitting in the background..who really has the kind heart when it comes down to it.

So those are a few of my pets..the cats of the family. I love them all so, they all have such individual personalities..and I wouldn't give them up for the world..even if it means that I'm slowly but surely turning into the 'crazy cat lady' that I fear being :P