When I graduated from college in 1983, my best friend from high school, Sheryl, and I decided to get our first apartment. We were still friends with our former boss, from the general store we both worked at in high school, and he had an apartment available above the store. I don’t remember for sure, but he either told us “no pets” or the subject was never brought up at all. So we went out and got a couple of cats anyway. He let us get away with it. I’m happy to say that we broke the ice for all of his future tenants, who now are allowed to have pets, sometimes even dogs. (this is the store I now work at as a bookkeeper).
We got Antoinette (mine) and Chaos (Sheryl’s) at a local pet store. This was back in the days when getting pets from pet stores didn’t mean they came from a puppy or kitten mill (or we were blissfully ignorant).
Before we could get these two cats “fixed”, Antoinette became pregnant. I think there were 4 kittens in this litter, going by the photos! My sister Lynn decided to take one home with her, who she named Sammy, and I know we found homes for the others also.
In 1985, I moved to Massachusetts and lived with family for a while. I did not take Antoinette with me, but a wonderful woman I had worked with offered to take her in and care for her until I got my own place and could take her. After a month or two of living with my sweet Antoinette, Julie asked me if she could keep her. I decided it was best for Antoinette to stay where she was now settled. I missed her, but this was also the time my parents asked me to take my cat Concha, so at least I still had feline company.
Sheryl took Chaos with her when she moved out and he was her companion for many years. He became diabetic at age 12, but still lived for another year after that. Sheryl describes Chaos as full of personality, very smart, and very loving. He could open the refrigerator, and he loved kisses on his head. He was trained to come up and give his head for kisses on command!
Sammy lived to be 15 years old, giving my sister and her husband many years of love and affection. If I remember correctly, he was very vocal! When you went to Lynn’s house, Sammy would always have something to say (“feed me” for one thing)!
Lynn loved to take photos of Sammy….she gave me several to choose from, and I know she had trouble narrowing it down to the few she gave me! They are great photos though, aren’t they? 🙂
This is great history, Jan, which I had totally forgotten about-Sammy’s parents! And yes, he was very vocal indeed, and quite a bit of personality, he was popular in the neighborhood! But then my current kitty Nina, is kinda vocal herself! I agree with Karen too, I LOVE all these pics, but just adore the one of Antoinette and Chaos on the couch!! They were so beautiful, and they look just like a couple, with their paws touching and all!! Not to mention, I did not remember how much Sammy looked like her mommy-he must have reminded you of her all the time! Looks from mom, personality from dad, perfect!
I know, Sammy did look like Antoinette, didn’t he? I don’t remember ever thinking about that much at the time though!
I guess you like those vocal cats, huh, Lynn? 🙂
The pictures are all cute, but that one of Antoinette and Chaos on the back of the couch is precious!
They posed so well! Cats are way more cooperative than dogs when it comes to photography, I think!
Thanks for including Chaos in your stories, Jan! Chaos was also very vocal, so I think that’s where Sammy got his voice! 🙂 I also remembered that Chaos had a nickname….i used to yell “kissy face!” When I’d come home and he’d happily make his presence known & give me some kisses. He also taught himself to pee on the toilet (I even caught him on film). 🙂 he had a big personality! Currently I have 3 cats, also very sweet & full of personality. All very different… Just like people!
Chaos really was quite a character, and I think Lynn will confirm that Sammy took right after him (minus the toilet training)!
How nice to see some of your kitty history. You were very smart to take pictures. I have very few pictures of earlier dogs.
Luckily I was big into photography when I was younger. Recently I’ve really slacked off. I think doing this blog is definitely inspiring me to get back into it more. Funny thing is, going through old photos to find these pictures is not easy, because I have so many! It is much easier keeping them on the computer than in those old photo albums, which are all falling apart!
What beautiful cats and kittens!
I am a dog blogger, but I will ‘let the cats out of the bag’…. and admit that I have three cats as well as a dog! My first four legged friend as a ‘grown-up’ was Callie, my travelin’ cat, who is 15 now!
I loved reading your cats story!
Thank you, Coralee! I try to blog about both my cats and dogs, but sometimes I tend to focus more on the dogs. Would you believe that we used to have four dogs and four cats (we are down to two cats now)? So three cats and one dog doesn’t sound bad to me! Oh, that is so great that you have a lovely senior! Senior pets are great.