by WalkWithMe1948

Created on: August 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Cats, Cats, I Have Too Many Cats

My mother use to tell me about a great-aunt of mine, who was found dead alone in her house, with hundreds of cats. I think I have become the incarnation of this aunt.

My life has been taken over by three cats and I am a minor inconvenience only useful to them when they are hungry and can't get the bag of cat food down from the top of the refrigerator or when the kitty litter needs changing. Three cats - who think they are independent and that they own me instead of the other way around.

The oldest is black with gold specks - they are called tortie cats or "money-cats". Don't ask me why because lord knows, she has not earned a dime since she moved in. I believe she came from a feral colony because she has this hiss that only a stray cat who needs to protect herself might have. It is unlike any sound I have ever heard before - in fact, I did not know cats could even make a growling sound like she does when either of the other two cats come within a room's width of her.

She is extremely demanding and she and I have had a running battle over a storage closet that she is not allowed to get into. But she is determined that some day, I am going to just over night, change my mind about the closet. Everyday, about the time I want peace and quiet so I can write - she stands at the closet door and meows incessantly until I am almost ready to wrap a coat hanger around her neck. She seems to know when I have reached that point, and immediately disappears for the rest of the day - after my nerves are so on edge that I snap on the very next person or cat which bothers me.

She is the first cat who is sent in to tell me when the food bowls are empty.

My second cat is calico who has a name but I can't remember it because for three years, everyone has called her Baby Kitten. Now Baby Kitten still thinks she is a kitten and is the star of our family. She plays fetch with a toy mouse - by herself. She doesn't need anyone to throw the mouse across the room, because she does it herself and then runs to get it, bringing it back to her starting place. She repeatedly runs up and down the hallway, not just a few times, but for what seems like hours. She wants the other cats to play chase with her, but they both hiss at her if she comes near them. Actually, she is very good at entertaining herself - which I should be grateful for.

One day I came home and Baby Kitten had gotten up on my dresser and found a bag of catnap that I had stored there. She spilled it

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