Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Then and Now

I was lucky enough as a child to have 2 cats that didn't seem to mind when I pretended they were my babies. We had a cross-eyed Siamese cat named Kitty Cat and a white, deaf cat named Snowball. I could wrap them up in blankets, shove a bottle in their mouths and they would not protest. No scratching or biting, they seemed to understand that I was a little human and didn't know any better. But Dad told me once that he tried to do the very same thing I did and he got howled at and scratched. Dad also told me that I would put doll clothes on Snowball and he would lie there, looking pitiful, but he humored me.

This photo above is me and my "baby" Kitty Cat in 1979 when I was 5.

Flash forward nearly 30 years to the present and my girls are fortunate enough to have a cat that takes their abuse without a single complaint. Archie will accept his fur being pulled, being carried by his paws, getting dressed in baby clothes and whatever else my girls will dream up. I will stop their playing if Archie runs away and hides under the table in the sun room, otherwise, I remind them to be nice and not to be too rough.
Here, the girls are pretending to give Archie a bath.
I love when the girls choose to play and use their imaginations and it is even better when we have a cat that will play along and give my girlies such pleasure when they pretend he is their baby. They also like to wrap Archie in a blanket and stick him in their toy stroller and wheel him around and around in the basement. There are so many chances for him to escape and run, but he doesn't, so I truly think he enjoys the attention from the girls.
I like to think of this as an example of the never ending cycle of life.

12 comments:

Blue Yonder said...

Oh you little dumplin' dolly! So cute! Those girls of yours are pretty squishable too :-)

Krissie said...

I would like to see someone try to do that to my cat. lol

D-HOR said...

Oh what cute pictures!! My goodness what good kitty cats. :)

Ha- when I dress up my fat cat in a sweater she goes all weird and can't walk. She acts as if her back half (that doesn't even have clothes on it) is paralyzed. She can stand but if she tries to go forward her hind end kind of drags. AND if she's standing up with it on and you push her side she will just fall slowly and stay there.

Cats are so goofy it's great.

Lisa C. said...

Poor kitty feeling like wearing a straightjacket! (chuckle)

D-HOR said...

That Anony. Guy over in my comments section is really starting to tick me off, he replied to your comment and won't quit. Do you think it would be a baby of me to delete any further crap from him?

Unknown said...

Cute, cute pictures.

My kids used to dress up the dog and the cat for a "wedding".

Lisa C. said...

How many cats do you have? 3?

DJ Kirkby said...

How sweet and how similar you still look to you little girl photo! Siamese are quite loyal arent they and I am not surprise your dad wasnt afforded the same tolerance. I completly agree with you that cats are so clever and seem to understand about little humans all too well. Our half feral cat will tolerate so much from N3S, anything similar from us would result in us loosing a hand!

lady macleod said...

too precious! I love it. the genes will out, the girls are as pretty as you. nice kitty.

BOSSY said...

Meanwhile Bossy's kids pretend their Great Dane is a horse.

jenny said...

Blueyonder-- Thank you, thank you! They are quite squishable!! :o)

Krissie-- LOL!!

Lindy-- I know exactly what you are talking about! Hee hee!! BC does that when we put an outfit on him and then he acts like he is paralyzed too. SO so funny! LOL!

Lisa-- :o)

Lindy-- Has he been back lately??

jenny said...

Dana-- Aww!! Did you ever get pictures of the "wedding"??

Lisa-- 2 indoor cats: Archie and BC, and 3 outdoor cats: Charlie, Lucy and Reddy, and 2 stray cats that just wont leave: Mooch and That Black Cat = 7.

DJ-- Aww, thank you sweetie! It's been so long since I've had a siamese cat. We bred them for awhile and then stopped and most of them are gone now. I went through a tabby cat phase and I am missing siamese cats lately. After the cats we have are gone.. I am going to look into getting a siamese again.

Lady M-- Thank you!! Hubby and I have a game we play with the girls, "Do you know who you got your beauty from?" and then we point at each other. The girls get a kick out of that and we do that often!

Bossy-- Whew! A Great Dane?!?! TOO much dog for me! I bet he is a pushover though! :o)